Rami Ungar The Writer

Ridiculous Charges

Posted: December 7, 2011 in Reflections

Like many of you, I’m worried about America’s school system. But what’s got me writing this post? I mean, there’s a whole list of problems that are associated with our illustrious public school system. I’ll tell you: in two days, I’ve read two news stories where kids were given sexual harassment charges. Kids were given sexual harrasment charges! Haven’t heard of this? Allow me to make you wonder:

1. In Michigan, a kid was telling a friend during lunch that he thought a teacher was “cute”. That’s all he said, he thought she was a cute teacher. A subsitute teacher overheard the conversation–a substitue teacher–and went to the principal. Now the kid’s on a two day suspension. I don’t think he’ll get a criminal record, but still…a little overboard, don’t you think?

2. In Boston, a kid was being choked by a bully on the back of a bus. The bully was trying to get the kid’s gloves, and would do anything to get them apparently. The kid couldn’t breathe, and kicked the bully in the groin in self-defense. Apparently at the kid’s school though, that doesn’t count as self-defense, but a form of inappropriate touching. Now he and his brother are afraid to go back to school after his suspension is served. Is there something wrong with this picture?

Look, I understand we want to create environments where people feel safe from harassment of this sort. But this is ridiculous! At those kids’ ages, I didn’t have any concept of what sexuality was! I’m not sure what these kids’ schools are doing, but if I were a parent at one of these schools, I’d call the principal and ask what the heck is going on. I mean, really?!

I hope this stuff gets into the Weekend Update jokes on SNL. The principal(s) is going to hang his/her head in shame if it does!

End of the Fall 2011 Quarter

Posted: December 7, 2011 in ideas, Living and Life

This is the first of two posts I’ll post this evening. If you’re looking for the second one, then it’s probably above this one, so just scroll up.

So today I finished my last exam, which is something most of my fellow collegiates can say (“You’re already finished? Lucky!”). I feel that for my first exam week, I did very well. I’m very confident that I will get good grades on my exams and hopefully a high GPA. The day after tomorrow I’m heading to my dad’s place for vacation (it’s easier to commute to and from work from my dad’s place). I’m practicing for my sister’s bat mitzvah, and I’m going to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert as well (that’s something I’m really looking forward to!).

Finally, I’m working on a new shorty story idea: although Ripple was rejected, the editor thought that one of the best parts of the story was that the story involved a really difficult choice. That got me thinking, and I realized that a lot of really good stories out there involve choices, really tough choices. So I’m running with that idea and doing some pretty obscure research (and I mean obscure. Like so obscure that I have to look for a specialist in England if I have any hope of looking for the info I need). Wish me luck, and happy winter vacation!

Ripple: Rejected

Posted: November 30, 2011 in Living and Life, short story

Well, I hate to say it, but Ripple got rejected. However, they did give me some feedback that cheered me up a bit. First, the editor of the Grove, the magazine I submitted Ripple to, said it was amazing that I had written such a story when I basically taught myself how to write fiction (while my high school was a good one, it specialized more in essay-writing for college instead of fiction-writing, but with this economy and job market can you blame them?). The editor and his staff also agreed that the second draft was much better than the first draft, so that’s something positive. In the end, it all boiled down to the fact that they had a lot of submissions, a lot more than usual apparently, and some of the work was a bit better than mine (and probably came from upperclassmen). Well, hopefully the next short story I write, whenever the inspiration strikes me, will be good enough to publish somewhere. Wish me luck.

PS The quarter is almost over on campus, and I am so glad! Honestly, I loved my classes and I had a ton of fun, but I just want to relax before winter quarter starts and I start a whole new round of classes and a whole new crazy schedule. Just gotta get past exams, and how hard can they be?

You know what, don’t answer that last question. Just leave posts encouraging me to do well in school and in my writing.

Update: Ripple

Posted: November 20, 2011 in Progress Report, short story

A few posts back I said that I was working on a sci-fi story called Ripple, and that I was sending it to one of the local literary magazines on campus. Well, I met with the prose editor of said magazine, and he offered me some suggestions about ways the story could be improved (this magazine is unique because it takes the time to meet with its contributors and give suggestions for improvements).

Needless to say, they had a lot of suggestions on how to better the story, and I’m pretty sure I used all of them. When I was done, the second draft of Ripple looked a heck of a lot different than the first, but I think that’s a good thing. I’ll find out soon enough whether or not they liked the second draft enough to put it in the magazine. If yes, then I’ll party. If not, then no hard feelings; I’ll just try again till I get published.

Oh, and a happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Enjoy the turkey while we remember that the Native Americans were kind enough to give us their corn and we repaid them by sending them to the worst pieces of real estate we could find! Don’t deny it, we did do that and they won’t ever let us forget it.

Review: Captain America (film)

Posted: November 3, 2011 in Review

I just had my last midterm of the quarter today, so I though I’d celebrate by going to see a free movie at the Union this evening (for those of you who don’t know, the Union is the place where the Student Government, several different important offices, and some classes are housed, as well as social events and club meetings). This week they were showing Captain America. I had virtually no knowledge of Captain America, except that he fought Nazis and that he was somehow supposed to be an Avenger in the 21st century (oh, he was cryonically frozen in the Norwegian ice? Oh, that makes perfect sense–not!). I didn’t even know that the villain’s organization was the same name as my fictional gang (I’d swear in court on that!). So, I was wondering how my first impressions would go.

Well, the movie lived up to its hype: the characters were believable and the actors that played them brought the right emotions to the screen. The villains were menacing enough (though that salute of theirs is a little ridiculous), and the scenes had the right emotion and drama. Special shout-outs to Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers, the latter person a very relatable character, Hugo Weaving for doing an amazing job as a villain again, this time as the Red Skull, and Tommy Lee Jones as the irrascible Colonel Phillips.

Just one complaint: the villain’s weapon of choice was lasers.

Lasers. God, you had to use the oldest futuristic weapon in sci-fi technology.

Even worse, they were blue lasers. And not just any shade of blue, they were fairy-princess blue! Hard to take those battle scenes seriously when you’re about to be taken out by Cinderella’s fairy godmother. I’m laughing just typing about it.

Poetica Magazine

Posted: October 27, 2011 in Poetry, Progress Report

Around January or February, we had an assignment in class where we were to take a series of prompts (I will, Then I, etc.), add some words to them, and weave them into a poem. Being me, I added some dark tones to the prompts I was given, and ended up writing “The Tragedy Too Often Forgotten”, a poem about the Holocaust.

I thought the poem had potential, so I searched online for a Jewish magazine specializing in poetry, which was how I found Poetica, a poetry and prose magazine devoted to works by, about, and for Jews and Judaism. Well, it’s been a long wait, but about a month or so ago, I learned that “The Tragedy Too Often Forgotten” was being considered for a special Holocaust edition to come out sometime next year. Today, I found out they had accepted it for publication.

I’d sincerely like to thank the staff at Poetica for accepting my poem, and I cannot wait to see it published. And to all those reading this blog interested in reading the poem, I suggest you go to poeticamagazine.com and order a copy when it comes out.

Oh and before I forget, if you’re interested in music or literature reminding people of the tragedy of the Holocaust, I’d suggest the song “Never Again” by the supremely-awesome heavy metal band Disturbed, a beautiful song written in tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.

Yes, I’m a heavy metal fan, but given my interests does that surprise any of you?

Review: Footloose

Posted: October 14, 2011 in Review

Many people were doubting that Paramount could really remake such an iconic 80’s film as Footloose and expect it to be any good with audiences. To those naysayers, I say: Go see the movie, ’cause you are missing out! The film takes a lot of liberties in order to make the remake appealing to GenX audiences, but instead of detracting from the film, it makes it better, something you can imagine happening even today. There’s no one moment where Rev. Shaw realizes that things need to change (like the book-burning scene in the original 1984 movie), but I think that this movie almost doesn’t need it. The modern music helps draw audiences in, and the more ethnically diverse cast members help solidify the film.

You can actually believe this film could happen somewhere in Georgia.
Just two comments I’d like to make before I’m done: one is that Ariel (Julianne Hough) looks and sounds like Miley Cyrus without the salvia, and Ren’s (Kenny Wormald) Boston accent is hard to find at times. Still, both could have some great careers in film, especially Wormald. Also, am I the only one who sees parallels between Bomont and the Prohibition? I keep wondering why they don’t put Prohibition in Ren’s argument! It’s a valid point about a religiously-motivated law that fails miserably and needed to be taken down.

Fall Quarter Productivity

Posted: October 10, 2011 in Progress Report, short story

In addition to all the college stuff (studying, taking classes, social life, eating, etc.) I’ve been trying to write as much as possible, and I’m happy to say that I haven’t been sitting on my bum not doing any writing this whole time. I’m pleased to say that as of this posting, I have finished and sent off two short stories. One is called Ripple and is an alien invasion story (funny subject for me, considering I don’t believe in aliens that invade our planet from millions of lightyears away, but whatever). The other is called Here Kitty, Kitty and is a short-short fiction piece (meaning it’s under a thousand words). I hope to have good news about thse stories soon, so keep looking and maybe I’ll let you know.

In addition, I’ve been working on an outline for the sequel to Reborn City. Yes, I know it seems like a bad idea, when you don’t even have the novel published, to start on a sequel, but I think it’s a great idea and if RC does get published, it’ll be good to at least have some of the next book on hand. Wish me luck, I haven’t even finished two chapters in that outline and it’s already around two pages (not so unusual for a novel, really).

Review: Castle

Posted: September 27, 2011 in Review

With the new season just starting, I got to admit, even with a change-up in cast with the death of Roy Montgomery and the introduction of Captain “Iron” Gates, ABC’s Castle is still totally awesome. Castle is still wild about Beckett, and Beckett is still dealing with trauma from her recent shooting, which makes coming to terms with her own feelings difficult at best. The person who shot Beckett is still at large, and Castle continues to delve into the mystery, even after recieving a mysterious phone call from someone who says he has all the answers (this’ll probably be a plot arc throughout the rest of the season). Alexis is getting ready to move out and go to college, much to Castle’s depression, and the addition of a new captain, Victoria “Iron” Gates (played by Penny Gerald Johnson), finds Castle and Beckett having to deal with someone who doesn’t think too highly of their partnership. All in all, I’m looking forward to the next few episodes.

By the way, did I mention that Castle is what started me watching and reading all the crime shows and novels I’m into now? I’m particularly interested in Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, and the Alex Cross books by James Patterson, along with Castle of course. Check any of them out, they all have their merits that make them great.

First Day of Classes

Posted: September 21, 2011 in Living and Life

Well, I survived my first day of classes. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad. At first, when I was waiting for Anthropology to start, I felt so nervous and excited. I had no idea what to expect! I probably hadn’t felt like that since my first day of junior high! But the teachers have been very nice, and it doesn’t seem that they assign a hundred pages of reading a class. So now I’m pumped for classes, and I can’t wait to try it out.

Here’s hoping to a good first quarter.