Author Topic: Me + Meagan Williamson  (Read 10638 times)

Lopez

  • Resident (Human) Analyzer
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 2
  • ***
  • Posts: 236
  • Your friendly local Human Representative
    • View Profile
on: August 21, 2009, 01:26:08 PM
So, when I ordered my psych book from Amazon.com used, I really should have expected that someone else's name would be there. But I kind of didn't. It had such an impact on me, that I had to write a story involving it. This story is mostly true, in terms of Meagan Williamson, but I haven't finished the psych book yet, I'm only on chapter 10. I could use some feedback on how this story/essay makes you feel, since I want to sharpen it up a bit.



I remember when I first opened Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior 11th edition by Dennis Coon and John O. Mitterer and saw your name on the front cover, Meagan Williamson. I felt glad, as if there would be someone to help me along as I read.

I remember being in awe of you, Meagan Williamson. Your sunny yellow highlighting overlapped the rote midnight text so brightly and cheerfully. You lit up all the important things, not just the bolded words, and you made all the never ending paragraphs fade under your unique disposition. You had your own personal aura to every single section, and I wanted to find out how I could highlight more like you, Meagan Williamson. So, I followed your guidance, with my static orange highlighter.

After I reached the second chapter, I wondered how I could ever live without you. I was never any good at biology, so the chapter on biological psychology seemed like a demon ready to rip me to shreds with its endless descriptions of the hypothalamus and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system. But you changed all that, Meagan Williamson. You shined the light into the dark cave of knowledge that I was always afraid to enter. And, with your help, I ventured in, deeper and deeper and deeper.

But then, you disappeared, Meagan Williamson. I’ll never forget what it was like to open to chapter 3: “Child Development” and gaze at blank page after blank page, with my static orange highlighter in hand. Everything seemed more confusing, more pedantic, and I was just a feckless high school student lost in a maze of ends in a three-hundred-and-sixty degree pattern around me. My highlighting grew both dimmer and more infrequent, as I lost the help of your guidance.

The next few chapters were listless and dull. But it was not my fault, or the book’s fault; it was your fault, Meagan Williamson. I was so used to pages with your cheerful yellow highlighting, that I never even bothered to know what it was like to highlight a page all by myself.

But I knew I had to move on. I knew that I could not reminisce on your bright yellow highlighting forever. Gradually, chapter four turned to chapter five, chapter five turned to chapter six, and chapter six turned to chapter seven. I learned how to highlight all by myself, with only my own wits and my static orange highlighter to guide me. You, Meagan Williamson, faded from memory. My static orange highlighting grew stronger and stronger, and I forgot all about you.

Then, you came back, Meagan Williamson.

Of course, it was chapter 9:”Conditioning and Learning.” You just skipped the chapters “States of Consciousness” and “Sensory Perception” to go straight to Pavlovian dogs and Skinner boxes. All the while, I thought about how you had betrayed me. You left me back at the beginning of the book, because you didn’t think that “Childhood Development” was important. But it was important to me, Meagan Williamson. I didn’t think I could ever put up with you after you did that to me.

So, I trudged on, all by myself. Then I noticed that your cheerful and bright highlighting now looked so very faded. I began to see how flawed you were, Meagan Williamson, how you highlighted entire paragraphs, how you never glanced at the optional reading boxes, and how you highlighted the miniature-fonted captions under the pictures. I began to wonder how I ever put up with you for those first two chapters.

But it didn’t matter, of course. That was the last chapter you ever marked, Meagan Williamson. Three chapters out of twenty, not counting the appendix. Did you ever feel like a failure, only reading fifteen percent of Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior by Coon and Mitterer? Probably not, and that’s what I hated most about you. You just didn’t care. I thought that you enjoyed reading about psychology as much as I did, and that we could bond over that. But you didn’t, so we couldn’t, and I thought we could never bond over anything.

I kept reading, since I wasn’t about to let you stop me, Meagan Williamson. I never even looked back. My static orange highlighting now ruled supreme over the entire text, and all that remained of you was a faded yellow paragraph peppered here and there (taken as a mean.)

After I finished the book, I noticed that you wrote your name on the back cover in black permanent marker, Meagan Williamson.

It looked like an epitaph, Meagan Williamson. That epitaph would scream, “I failed,” to everyone who clutched this 11th edition psychology textbook by Coon and Mitterer in their claws. Everyone will say “Oh, this idiotic girl who can’t even finish Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with her faded yellow highlighting.” Everyone will despise you, for the failure they see in your faded yellow highlighting.

But I won’t despise you, Meagan Williamson. Everyone else will think that you are a failure, but I won’t, because I believe in you. While everyone else will look at you and see your faded yellow highlighting, I will not, because I believe that you are more than your faded yellow highlighting.  I believe that you are you, and you will always be you, and you will not be faded yellow highlighting.

Everyone will shout me down, with cries of “How can you believe in this pathetic girl, with her faded yellow highlighting?” and I will shout right back at them “Damn it! I believe in you, Meagan Williamson!”

And they will call me crazy, Meagan Williamson, believing in a girl with faded yellow highlighting. But I will not back down, and I will not ever stop believing in you.

Because I love you, Meagan Williamson.



Food for thought: Who is Meagan Williamson?

Now, for a more broad question: Who is Meagan Williamson?

...but that's just my opinion, so don't let it bother you too much!


Dragyn

  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 2
  • ***
  • Posts: 458
    • View Profile
    • Canonfodder
Reply #1 on: August 21, 2009, 11:48:35 PM
Hmmm...

I will cede that this entire thing feels strangely familiar...

...and that disturbs me on a primal level.


Anyway...I like the voice you've adopted for this text.  It feels fairly natural--not too flowery, not too dull.  You've kept your verb tense and sentence structure fairly constant throughout, which keeps the whole thing linked as a solid piece, and not just scattered, rambling fragments.

Which is only really weird when you consider that it really is scattered, rambling fragments.


...and all of this is just to say that I liked this piece.  Good work.



D. Ein

  • Crimson Flag Fan
  • *
  • Posts: 42
    • View Profile
Reply #2 on: August 23, 2009, 07:38:27 PM
http://www.kimcornish.com/ourteam/MeaganWilliamson.asp

^_^

Will post a review of this story once I come back from the movies (later today).

____________________

Okay, I guess I wasn't able to post yesterday, given my very tired state... but here goes.

Well, I don't really consider this to be a story - more like a creative essay. Also, I can't boast such knowledge of English as yourself, so I'm going to be subjective. I liked the piece, it evokes some very nice visceral feelings, but beyond that, it seemed a little all over the place - you say she's stupid and then you say you love her. I know, it's likely a literary device, but maybe my intelligence is lacking - I don't really understand it. Still, as I said before - this story evoked visceral feeling, and any work that does this is automatically good in my books.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2009, 09:38:52 AM by D. Ein »

!!!! , ...

Subject No. III VI +


Lopez

  • Resident (Human) Analyzer
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 2
  • ***
  • Posts: 236
  • Your friendly local Human Representative
    • View Profile
Reply #3 on: August 24, 2009, 08:43:12 PM
CREEPY!  {:OThat's such a weird coincidence....but alas, sadly, it can only be a coincidence. The 11th edition was published in 2007, and she finished her BA in 2004.

....Weeeeellll, thanks for reading it, anyway. {:)

...but that's just my opinion, so don't let it bother you too much!


KaiAdin

  • Evil Feline Ice Mage
  • Moderator
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 3
  • ****
  • Posts: 763
  • *Pokes* Mewhahahaha!
    • View Profile
    • KC Central Nexus
Reply #4 on: August 25, 2009, 05:43:33 PM
Ah I just managed to read your story on the train! and it was pretty good!

Though I couldn't really relate fully with the story, mainly as in my Uni one is not required to read the whole textbook. Usually we read the relevant chapters and even then only specific sections sometimes. The philosophy is that one should be able to pass through using lecture notes alone, and those who aim to get better than a pass would of course read the relevant sections of the textbook to gain a deeper understanding.

Also, highlighting in textbooks! The Horror!! *faints* I can't bring myself to highlight/damage my textbooks in anyway... its just some ingrown instinct (despite the fact I never sell my textbooks... which removes the argument of not highlighting to help it retain its value)... anyway I take notes from my textbook, thus keeping the books pristine!

Anyway my point was I'm one of those people who wouldn't really judge people on the amount of highlighting in a textbook, never the less pronounce her a failure for skipping so many chapters. Nor would I shout you down  for believing in her. It's just highlighting in a textbook, fluorescent ink on printed text, I wouldn't read into it that much.

Edit: though I do understand what you're trying to get at... (I think) the wonder of reading something that has passed through someone elses paws was a sub-theme, I can relate to that ]:)
« Last Edit: August 25, 2009, 05:49:58 PM by KaiAdin »

* (Kai|MentosKitty) is Fresh and Full of life!
(Kai|MentosKitty): X3
Tvorsk: Kitty - The Mewmaker.


Lopez

  • Resident (Human) Analyzer
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 2
  • ***
  • Posts: 236
  • Your friendly local Human Representative
    • View Profile
Reply #5 on: August 25, 2009, 06:26:35 PM
Quote
nyway my point was I'm one of those people who wouldn't really judge people on the amount of highlighting in a textbook,

Very good. You're VEEEERRRRY close. Closest one yet, so I'll give it to you. Sure, you wouldn't judge someone by the highlighting in their textbooks, since that's just plain rediculous. But do you judge someone by their handwriting, by the tone of their voice, or by the music they listen to? THAT opens up the question..."Should you judge people by what they do?" When you look at the ending again, you'll see my solution.

...but that's just my opinion, so don't let it bother you too much!


Virmir

  • Chaotic Neutral Cartoon Gray Fox Mage
  • Administrator
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 4
  • *****
  • Posts: 2249
  • These sorts of things happen.
    • View Profile
    • virmir.com
Reply #6 on: August 25, 2009, 08:58:40 PM
Gah ha ha!!!

Absolutely hilarious!  Great story. [:)

[fox] Virmir


KaiAdin

  • Evil Feline Ice Mage
  • Moderator
  • Mage of Caerreyn, Level 3
  • ****
  • Posts: 763
  • *Pokes* Mewhahahaha!
    • View Profile
    • KC Central Nexus
Reply #7 on: August 27, 2009, 06:34:53 AM
Very good. You're VEEEERRRRY close. Closest one yet, so I'll give it to you. Sure, you wouldn't judge someone by the highlighting in their textbooks, since that's just plain rediculous. But do you judge someone by their handwriting, by the tone of their voice, or by the music they listen to? THAT opens up the question..."Should you judge people by what they do?" When you look at the ending again, you'll see my solution.

Haha I'm going out on a Limb here... In the story, did you try to find out more about Megan? or even meet her, I guess then you could see how she really is or something ]:P

I'm dunno what excatly to say especially since this based on RL events. (On a side note, it would be ironic if she googled her name and found this story)

* (Kai|MentosKitty) is Fresh and Full of life!
(Kai|MentosKitty): X3
Tvorsk: Kitty - The Mewmaker.