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When I was a teenager, I was part of a youth theater group - then known as Kayos. If you look closely in the first image above you will see me in the newspaper cutting wearing a tiara. :D We put on amateur musicals and plays in the local theater of our home town - The Greenock Arts Guild (closed as of 2012). At that time, I was into creative things. I wrote my own songs with my friends, and in my free time attempted to draft terrible novels that were pretty much replicas of The Outsiders or that Samuel L. Jackson movie, One Eight Seven (more about my love of The Outsiders in the next blog post). As I got older, I continued to write songs and stories but unfortunately gave up my non-acting career for "more important" teenage antics - boys and clubs and alcohol.
Aside from musicals and plays, our group would also do the occasional Cabaret show. It was the time for us to pick and sing songs to an audience of friends and family members. As much as I wished for the voice of a diva, I was more suited for covering songs by Stockard Channing or Alannah Myles or ... Abba. Now I am unclear exactly what my beef is with them, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that I dislike Abba. The MD of the Cabaret always tried to convince me to sing an Abba song at the show - it's a crowd pleaser after all - but I always refused to do it. And even now, a good 15+ years later, I still do not like Abba. I will never watch Mama Mia or the sequel. I will never dance to their songs if they come on at a party. I honestly have this strong detest for them that I can not justify. All I can suggest is that I am entirely stubborn, so when the MD kept pushing for me to cover their songs, my hatred grew.
Which now brings me to Apple. I will deliberately buy anything but Apple. If anyone even attempted to give me an Apple product for a gift or assumed I would be an Apple user, I would be repulsed by their lack of knowledge of me, their apparent friend. LOL. Seriously, my dislike of Apple is far superior to that of Abba. The reason? I can give it a little more clearly (but it is still as equally pathetic).
When I was in high school, I took an administration class. At that time, our class was filled with those old rectangular Macs that were devoid of any glorious colours except green and black (is this why I hate green??). We learned how to use those computers until around 2nd year, after which the lab was upgraded with brand spanking new Microsoft PCs. Of course, the new Windows computers were superior to the old macs and we soon got the hang of the new system.
Jump ahead to my first year of university - guess what computers were in our computer labs? Macs. Now, I obviously knew how to use them so that wasn't my issue. The issue was that it was mandatory for all students to take a computer course during first year to prove they were computer literate. We were not allowed to graduate without taking that course. I felt that I was wasting my time considering I had a Scottish Higher in Administration! Alas, I had no choice but to take the course, prove that I was Mac capable, and get the go ahead to get my future degree.
But, folks, can you guess what happened the following year? All of the Apple computers in the Psychology Department were taken out and replaced by, you guessed it, Microsoft PCs!
Urgh!
Why was I wasting my time using Apple systems AGAIN only for it to switch???
And thus grew my dislike for Apple. ^^ ^^
I suppose in someways we can say that Microsoft marketing clearly worked on me. It didn't entirely, since I have issues with their annoying updates to the system always at the worst possible moment. I think at some point I had come to the conclusion that Apple was dead - long live Microsoft. Even to this day I have a strong dislike for Apple. I won't even consider it as an option. I hate their exclusivity, their "we are so cool" style that they had in the early noughties. I'm too cool for Apple.
I hope you all realise I am jesting.
But honestly, I think my aversion is basic and human. I don't like change. Don't make me unnecessarily change something. Nor make me do pointless arbitrary tasks that are unnecessary when I clearly have the academic proof that I am computer literate! I look out my anger on Abba and Apple. But, in my opinion, the psychology of it is much deeper.
I was that child who hated the popular things. I was too cool for what others loved. If something was so "in" I was deliberately not going to watch/read/do it because everyone else was. I was a rebel of social trends. I would watch/read/do that thing when I wanted to. Not when I was told to. DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! Ha! I suppose that could all stem from being the youngest of 5. I love my family!!! But I wonder, being the youngest, and automatically the cutest, :P creates an adult striving for independence and freedom from authority. Is that why I live in Korea? I'll monitor my youngest nephew and see how he turns out (he has 4 older brothers).
Now for some news:
For readers who haven't picked up The Faelti yet (Aronia Series 2), if you wait until November you can get it on NetGalley!!
The Silmaril Awards:
Is Olivia Bellamy the most faithful friend? Nominate her here: http://savannahgracewrites.blogspot.com/2018/09/silmaril-awards-2018-most-faithful.html
Is Kai Sisu the most nefarious villain? Nominate him here: https://kylerobertshultz.com/2018/09/03/slimaril-nominations-2018/#comment-1534
You can still vote for The Watcher of the Night Sky in the YA and Middle School category of the Tck Awards: https://www.tckpublishing.com/2018-readers-choice-voting-page/
And finally...
Check out these two offers by some of my author friends. The Promise is YA fantasy romance. After the Green Withered is a YA dystopian.
That's it for today. How about you guys? Do you have anything you hate without proper justification? Are your reasons as nonsensical as mine? Will you be attending Busan Book Con in South Korea? Let me know :D Also, if there is anything you want me to blog about be sure to leave a comment.
Coming up next:
- My love for The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
- Why I came to Korea
Lots of love you you all.
Stay Gold