Stuff

I feel like putting some stuff in here about me if anyone cares to take a look.  In case any random people happen to stumble upon my site and are curious or whatever.

 

Name:  Leanne Meschwitz

Hobbies, etc:  Reading, writing, rowing, collecting music, guitar, kayaking, hiking, South Park

Favorites and such: 

                     Color:  Dark blue/gray/silver-ish

                     Band(s):  Radiohead, Led Zeppelin

                     Singer(s):  Tori Amos, Howie Day, Sarah McLachlan, Tom Brosseau, Ani Difranco, Matt Nathanson

                     Food:  Fish/seafood

                     TV Show:  Roseanne

                     Place to be:  Sebec Lake, Maine;  or Boston/south shore of Massachusetts

                     Writer(s):  Sylvia Plath, Dean Koontz

                     Time of the year:  Autumn

                     Thing to do alone:  Think, write

                     Subjects (in school):  English and Latin

Least Favorite Subject In School:  Math

Person(s) I respect the most:  Tori Amos, someone I can't say, Sylvia Plath, Mr. Radford (old creative writing teacher)

Pet Peeves:  Squeaky doors, disgustingly messy rooms, laziness, mumbling

Most loathed food(s):  Pees, ketchup, hotdogs

Dream Job:  Astronomer

Realistic Job (due to abnormally weak math skills):  English teacher (high school or college level)

Names I would like to name my children some day:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Fiona

 

Music

Music is a large part of my life, so here is some info on my favorite music and likes/dislikes

Favorite Albums:  (In no particular order)

Boys For Pele- Tori Amos

This album is where I get the name MotherLucifer from. The 3rd track on the album is called "Father Lucifer," and I looooove it. However, people think that that song and the rest of the album is satirical and disrespectful towards Christianity, but it really isn't at all. In some places she does make a few snide comments, but as a whole, the album uses Christianity and other mythology as metaphors. The album is really about a breakup, which sounds very cliche, but Tori makes it work with this album with all of the brilliant hidden and double meanings woven throughout the album. The title, Boys For Pele, is absolutely brilliant as well. Pele is a mythological volcano goddess of Hawaii who demands sacrifices of small boys to appease her. Brilliant use of mythology on this album.

Led Zeppelin IV- Led Zeppelin

I know that this album can be called a number of titles, but I pick Led Zeppelin IV since it's the easiest to go by. I love this album because it is Zeppelin at their best. It's got that nice hard-rock from the 1970s sound to it, with the scratchy but beautiful recordings. It also has that dark, black magic London feel to it, thanks to the master of the guitar, Jimmy Page. All of the songs on that album are perfection, and lyrically I think it's their best album.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy- Sarah McLachlan

The classic contemporary folk rock album. I love this album because the instrumentation of it is beautiful. It isn't too much so that it is overdone, and it isn't too little so that the album doesn't reach its full potential. It's perfect. It isn't overloaded with acoustic guitars and scratchy voices like a lot of folk albums are, and the instrumentation is so diverse that none of the songs really sound the same, something that a lot of folk albums have the tendency to do due to the style of music it is.

Wish You Were Here- Pink Floyd

A great album to just sit back and relax and listen to. The music is so different on this album, and it's relaxing. I love their album The Wall, but that album can get a bit emotionally draining. This album, however, just has that weird psychedelic sound to it that is laid-back. What makes this album so great for me is the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a 25 minute, 9-part masterpiece of mostly just music with very little singing.

Australia- Howie Day

Howie is one of my favorite musicians (although lately he's been turning John Mayer-ish, which does NOT make me happy). His live performances are far superior to his albums, though. But in any case, his first album, Australia, is a great Indie record (even though it eventually got picked up and re-released under Epic). It has that great folk-rock Indie sound to it, and it's great laid-back fun music. The title of the album is also great. Howie is from Bangor Maine, and whenever people asked him where he was from he would always say Australia, so eventually it stuck and he named the album Australia as a joke. Now a ton of people really DO think he's from Australia. It's quite funny. There is a long list on the internet somewhere of places where he's said he's from.

Rumors- Fleetwood Mac

Another "Classic Rock" band that I love.  Like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, and Led Zeppelin, this band was introduced to me by my father as well.  For a few years I had the song "The Chain" downloaded on my computer, and it wasn't until last April that I decided to finally just buy the whole damn album.  This album is brilliant.  And it's one of those albums that I can listen to and love every song on the album, which is rare (although I can do that with all of the albums on this list as well).  But the sound of this ablum is different, and I love it.  There are great guitars on this album too.  Lindsey Buckingham is great with the guitar.

The Blue Album- Tom Brosseau

You can say what you want about this man's voice, whether it be that his voice sucks and is scratchy, or that he sounds like a female, I don't care. There are very few folk musicians who sing *real* folk music. That is, the old school, back in the 50's folk music before it got political. Tom writes songs about anything, and he uses metaphors that use common, everyday comparisons, making his lyrics real folk lyrics. He draws the little things from everyday life and puts it into his lyrics. The music is refreshing, as it is really old-fasioned folk music. He's the real deal when it comes to folk.

Days Of Future Passed- The Moody Blues

If you want to go on an acid trip without the acid, listen to this album.

My Favorite Books

Favorite Books (In no particular order)

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

This one gets the first spot on the list. I've read the book 7 times, and I absolutely adore it. Plath, even if it's argued that she was completely insane, is one of the most influential writers of contemporary novelists/poets. It's impossible to escape her influence. In this book, Plath tells the story (in 1st person) of her life for about a year while she was in college. It starts during the summer while she has an internship with a fashion magazine in New York City, and continues through her subsequent path of insanity as she can no longer sleep, write, or think clearly. Her description of this experience is a must read for any female, and a must read for any writer. Her writing style is like that of a female version of Ernest Hemingway.

False Memory, by Dean Koontz

I picked this book up randomly one day while I was looking for something in my mother's room. I started reading the first page and couldn't put the book down. I can't explain the entire novel because it's far too complicated for my current patience to type up (and I'm sure far too complicated for your patience to read), so I will say that it is basically about a psycho psychiatrist who takes advantage of his patience by brainwashing them with medication they don't know they are receiving (at their appointments), and he tries to destroy their lives. It's such a great book, and the chemistry between the characters is great, which is something Koontz is amazing at.

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis

This one includes the 7 books of the series. I loved reading these when I was younger. I remember over the summer I would hide myself up in my room and read all 7 consecutively in maybe 3 days. It was great. I should re-read them sometime soon methinks. They are great for escaping anything that is on my mind and bugging me because they take me to this fantasy land that I wish I could go to. It would be great to walk through my closet (or wardrobe) and be able to venture into another land.

The Elements Of Style, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

I am a grammar nerd, so this book is a must-have in my collection. I also feel that every English speaking person should own a copy of this book, but that will never happen ;) This book runs through all of the most important (and even most of the very picky) rules of grammar of the English language. I love it.

501 Spanish Verbs Fully Conjugated In All The Tenses and Moods, by Christopher Kendris, Ph.D., and Theodore Kendris, Ph.D.

Another must-have for any grammar nerds who speak or read Spanish.

501 Latin Verbs Fully Conjugated In All The Tenses and Moods, by Richard E. Prior and Joseph Wohlberg

Another must-have for Latin and grammar nerds.

The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood

Unfortunately I've been able to read this book only once, because I lent it to my neighbor two summers ago, and she has yet to return it. I should be getting it back soon though. Anyhow, this book is a bit tough to get through at first, because it is very long and very heavy on flashbacks. But after a while you begin to realize how great this piece of literature is. The idea of the plot is great as well. This woman, Zenia, basically steals and "messes up" 3 women's husbands and the women's lives, because she is a controlling sociopath. It's great. I love this book because of the personalities that Atwood gives the characters. In this book Atwood is big on "showing and not telling" the characters' personalities and lives, which keeps the book from getting boring and tiresome, much like Herman Melville's novels, which tell the reader everything and don't allow for many events to really *happen* so the reader can enjoy himself.

Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier

The main character of this novel (and the speaker), is not Rebecca. Instead she [the main character] remains unnamed the entire novel, which makes the book great. Rebecca is the ghost that haunts the main character and her husband, who used to be married to Rebecca before she died. I love this novel because for some reason I can "connect" with the main character. I don't know if it's because I feel sympathy for her, or empathy, or if it's just because she reminds me of myself. In any case, I love the main character and the book.

"Closer" (a play), by Patrick Marber

This is the play that the movie with Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen is based on. The movie was brilliant, with much credit due to the director, but the screenplay, which was written by Marber and almost the exact same thing as the play (with only a few minor adjustments) is amazing as well. After seeing the movie I bought the play (which also came with two other great plays), and then realized how great it is. Marber creates amazing characters in his plays, and he creates them with so few words. For the most part, much of what each character says is short and succinct and very much to the point, and from that, the reader can derive what type of person each character is. It's awesome. And the characters are so complex too. Especially the two female characters in this play, Alice and Anna. There is so much going on with them, I can't even begin to explain it. Marber is able to grasp human emotions really, really, really well with his plays and his characters.

Fiesta Al Noroeste, by Ana Maria Matute

Ok, if anyone in my Spanish class sees this he/she will probably think I am nuts for including the Spanish version of this novel on this list, but I am doing it anyway. I haven't yet read the English version, but I had to read the Spanish version for my AP Spanish class, and it's great. The Spanish language is so flowery and pretty, and Matute adds to that poetic nature even more with her style of writing. She is an extremely talented writer. And I love the Spanish language.

Politik

No one chooses their country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it:  Disagree

Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment:  Agree

It's a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product:  Agree, although I don't care that I have to *buy* fundamental needs.

The rich are too highly taxed:  Disagree

The freer the market, the freer the people: Strongly Agree

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need is a fundamentally good idea.  Strongly Disagree

Abortion, when the woman's life is not threatened, should always be illegal:  Disagree (although personally I choose to be pro-life)

Taxpayers should not be expected to prop up any theatres or museums that cannot survive on a commercial basis:  Agree

Good parents sometimes have to spank their children, to teach them right from wrong:  Strongly Disagree

Schools should not make classroom attendance compulsory:  Agree, only in the sense that the school should NOT fail you if you have just 5 absences per term.  Also, if you can still pass without attending class, then good for you, and you should not be penalized for that (in public schools of course.  I don't care what private schools choose to do).  Although skipping class while you are already IN school I disagree with. 

The prime function of schooling is to equip the future generation to find jobs:  Disagree

Those who are able to work, and refuse the opportunity, should not expect society's support:  Agree

When you are troubled, it's better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things:  Kind of Agree, only if you decide to deal with the problem EVENTUALLY, before it grows into an out of control disaster.

Our civil liberties are being excessively curbed in the name of counter-terrorism:  Disagree

A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system:  Disagree.  Bitching to eachother is good.

In a civilised society, one must always have people above to be obeyed and people below to be commanded:  Agree

Abstract art that doesn't represent anything shouldn't be considered art at all:  Strongly Disagree

The businessman and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist:  Strongly Disagree, naturally

Mothers may have careers, but their first duty is to be homemakers:  Need I comment?

Faith-based schools have a positive role to play in our education system:  Disagree.  I think the effect they have is on the individual and not the society as a whole, and sometimes the effect is not a positive one

Astrology accurately explains many things.  Agree, to a certain extent

George Bush?  A good guy.  Kind of on the stupid side and may not ALWAYS be the best thing for this country, but a good guy.