My favourite song (currently) is "Bulletproof" by La Roux. It gets stuck in my head way too easy, and I may have maxed out my allotted listens to it on last.fm. Oh, and the lyrics are amazing.

   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

What do you think of when you first hear the word Arizona?
Do you think of:

The Desert?


The Grand Canyon?
 

Phoenix?
 

Flagstaff?



Personally, I think of something akin to the Peoria Sports Complex:
 

I have lived in Arizona all my life and have traveled and visited a lot of the state.
I am also a vigorous user of the internet and an avid watcher of television & movies.
I honestly think that Arizona is one of the most stereotyped states out there. I'm not saying that other states aren't stereotyped, it's just Arizona is almost always viewed as this "Hot-and-Blazin-Desert" &  "I'm-A-Lone-Wolf-Gun Tootin'-Cowboy" State.

So, here are some stereotypes I'd like to debunk about Arizona:
1. Everyone's really blonde, tan and really into sports.
This myth has had a recent boost in popularity thanks to SMeyer. I'd like to formally invite you too Arrowhead Mall on any given Friday Night. You can say hello to all the scene, emo, punk and goth kids for me. You don't have to have a tan to be an Arizonan, pale persons just work really hard not to get one. (As an interesting note people in Phoenix are more likely to get a tan during the fall because the weather's cooling down. Summers in Phoenix are miserable, and you probably won't see many pedestrians out and about. Children generally stay inside because temperatures can get up to 120 degrees outside - which rivals Baghdad.)

2. We all speak with a Southern, cowboy style drawl....
If you could give Arizonans an accent it would be a mixture of Californian and General American. The thing is, Arizona is a melting pot of people from others states. Heck, the majority here are non-natives. Those that are natives are more likely to be a first generation Arizonan. (I'm actually fourth generation on my mother's side, go me.) Having said this, any accents that come to Arizona will stay with the person the whole time they live here. (I've heard in my High School alone: General British, Scottish, Mexican, New England, Californian, New Jersey, New York, Texan, etc, etc.)

3. Everything here is desert:
There are three regions in Arizona: desert, plateau, and mountain. Two of those see snow every winter. Yet we're most known for the one that doesn't. Most of our early population was in these areas. Most of the more recent population in Metrozona (Metropolitan Arizona) is thanks to two things: Air conditioning and Frank Lloyd Wright.

4. But it's a dry heat!
Not so quick, bub. I'd like to inform you of this little thing called the North American Monsoon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Monsoon
This can make some days in Phoenix, Arizona not only ridiculously hot, but also really humid.

5. Not really a stereotype...
Arizona has a huge retirement population. One that rivals Florida. I know of at least three towns dedicated to this group alone. (My favourite is Youngtown - because of the name) With the retirement centers comes resorts, golf clubs, country clubs, and even some rehab centers.

6. Hippies in Flagstaff
I'm not going to say anything on this one, and if you're ever in Flagstaff I'd advise you not to either. That's the one rule about Flagstaff - don't talk about the hippies.

~Fin

P.S. If you're ever in Metrozona, go out for some authentic style Mexican Food. It's delicious, and 10000x better than any Taco Bell you've ever had.

P.P.S. If you're going to use the stereotype of us as a Cowboy state or as a complete desert, please, include the Cicadas. Nobody ever includes the damned Cicadas.

      A challenger approaches! Click here for the Challenge!   

      I'm really glad that this, ahem, "challenge" isn't about what story you want to write, and is instead about what book you hope to write. If it was about what story you wanted to be told, well, this would take the rest of my night to write. I would have to tell the tales of the personification of Insanity, talking mountains who frequently get into car accidents, a curious shaman known as Cracker Jack, a chaotic crew on a posh but doomed space resort, a failing art student who learns that he wasn't ever supposed to be born and consequently will neither go to heaven or hell... but luckily for us all the prompt asked for your future book. (I plan to use other mediums for all this madness.)  


     The SERIES (A.K.A. The Blaise Family Chronicles) that I'm writing interestingly enough started from two harmless, little jokes. One was a picture of a stereotypical emo thrusting his hand out while simultaneously glancing in a different direction then his hands. Above all of this was in big, colourful words, "ANGST!". The second was a humourous little thought about what could happen if someone who was hemophobic was to ever be turned into a vampire. These completely harmless little jokes completely evolved and mutated into a tale about vampires, superheroes, werewolves, secret soceities, corrupt governments, and other fantastic situations that two cousins must deal with while struggling through adolescence. Those two little jokes became this giant octopus that is choking me to death, and yet I can't help but call it my baby. Really, this whole ordeal took a life on its own and is now trampling through downtown Tokyo. (It has a digital file all to itself and two tangable files - I've been working on it for two years now.) All of this because my mind decided to ask the most dangerous question known to man: Why? (Followed by when, who, what, how, where....)


     So to make you suffer the pain I bear and because I'm a wee bit masochistic, I present you with my the first book of my series' über-polished hook:    
 "Veritas High School was the about the same as any other high school in Arizona. Like every other school around, it had the same graduation requirements, same class system, same locker brand, and the same general student body. It was utterly banal, and like any other high school, cliques ran throughout the school. With this being said, it is naturally understood that navigating through all of this is hell for many. Trying to navigate through high school is even worse if you’re the new kid.  Especially, if you happen to share the title of new kid with your cousin whose name happens to be strikingly similar to yours. It’s even worse if you just so happen to be what most kids would refer to as a “super-hero”. Such is the life of Brendan Theodore Cedric Blaise."





All I can say is that when I die I know that my biggest regret will be to not have told all of my stories...