Jamie Lammers
Stories (150/0)
I'll Learn My Lesson
How did my plan backfire so horribly? I had her right in my hand, I could feel it. I was doing everything right, but somehow, my plan failed. Why? Let me think about what happened for a second. Maybe then, I’ll be able to figure out what went wrong. Earlier today, I decided to ask my crush, Jennifer, out for lunch this weekend… or coffee or maybe a walk in the park, I couldn’t quite decide. I talked to my friend, Malcolm, about doing this, and he thought that was a terrible idea.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Humans
Maturing in Shabanu
Suzanne Fisher Staples’ book, Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind, covers incredibly difficult subjects to talk about and refer to. These include: one’s attitude towards life is what really matters; difficult sacrifices could be best for the entire family and not just you; and everything in life comes with a price. The theme that is most evident in the book, however, is the theme of maturation and how it is an amazingly confusing road to go down. Staples writes this theme in many different, unique, and interesting ways, talking about both literal and metaphorical maturation and how it affects the main character, Shabanu’s, life as the story progresses. It is this change in her body, her decision-making, and her opinion of the world around her that makes her relatable to teenage girls around the world, even though she lives in 1980’s Pakistan. In Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind, Staples reveals the theme of the hard road of maturing by showing how Shabanu goes through puberty, makes amazingly hard choices, and realizes that the world around her is flawed.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Humans
Beowulf and the Hero Archetype
The story of the epic poem Beowulf is set during the 6th century BCE in Denmark. The poem opens with Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, opening a mead hall that he calls Heorot for his subjects. The happy and carefree atmosphere of the mead-hall doesn’t last long, as a terrifying monster named Grendel starts attacking the hall soon after it opens. He does this every night for over twelve years, the king powerless to stop the greedy goblin and his subjects not strong enough to defeat it. Thankfully, Beowulf, a great warrior who happens to be the nephew of Hygelac, the king of the Geats, hears of Hrothgar’s trouble and sails to his kingdom. When Beowulf arrives, he tells Hrothgar that he is more than willing to help him, especially since Hrothgar helped Beowulf’s father a while ago and he owes him a favor for that. Later that night, Beowulf waits in Heorot Hall for the nightly arrival of the monster. When Grendel arrives, Beowulf fights him in a hand-to-hand conflict, ultimately ending with Beowulf ripping Grendel’s arm off from the shoulder. The wound is fatal, and the monster returns into the wilderness to die. Beowulf is celebrated the next day, with Hrothgar giving him gifts to show his appreciation. The celebration doesn’t last long, as Grendel’s mother arrives soon afterwards to attack the kingdom and avenge her son’s death. She attacks Heorot Hall while the warriors sleep. However, the warriors wake up during her rampage and force her back to her lair in a cave underneath a lake. Beowulf is called into action. He rushes after the monster with a troop of warriors by his side. Once he arrives at the lake, he dives in alone and swims into her lair, finding the body of Grendel inside. He grabs a sword from Grendel’s mother’s pile of treasures and uses it to slay her once and for all. He swims up in triumph, grabbing her son’s head and bringing it with him to the surface. The village celebrates Beowulf once again before he announces that he must return to his homeland. He sails away, and when he finally arrives home, he is celebrated again and subsequently becomes the king of the Geats. His rule lasts for fifty years until one day, a dragon starts attacking his people. He fights it off and successfully kills it but is mortally wounded in the process. The Geats cremate Beowulf and build a memorial-barrow to remember his legacy as an incredible leader and a great king.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Geeks
Christmas Lights
I couldn’t help but notice as I walked by your house this morning that you still haven’t taken down the Christmas lights we put up together. It’s the middle of January, for God’s sake. Why are they still on your windowsill, glowing brightly during the night as if the holiday of cheer hasn’t already passed? Is it because you want to remember us? All of the things we did together? All of our Christmas memories and nostalgia? If that’s the case, then why did you break up with me in the first place? If you’re so sad about the fact that we’re over, why did you end it? You leaving those lights up on your windowsill is not helping at all. Take them down. Move on from the way things used to be. Turn them off so I don't have to see them from across my street anymore.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Confessions
How I Became Interested in Movies
Chris Stuckmann’s Norm of the North review seems like an inconsequential YouTube clip. A video of a 27-year-old man talking about a supposedly terrible animated movie shouldn’t be that special. However, when that video was recommended to me in early 2016, I watched it and became hooked on Stuckmann’s channel. I was impressed by the way he criticized films and wished that I could look at films the same way he did. How could a kid who had just turned fourteen possibly look at filmmaking with the same depth and wisdom as someone who reviews movies on YouTube as a job? After a while, however, I realized I was subconsciously picking up on the elements of movies Stuckmann would talk about: the acting, cinematography, direction, writing, editing, special effects, music, and storytelling, among others. I started reviewing movies on my own with monologues to myself about my thoughts on whatever film I had just watched. Since then, I have connected with a group of friends who also love the art of filmmaking, including another Chris Stuckmann fan. I started discussing and watching films with them, along with acting in short films they made. I still appreciate how cool it is that I've actually found people who love films as much as me. I now write full-fledged movie reviews on Letterboxd and even official articles for Stardust.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Geeks
Why Movies Engage Me
A topic that always engages me without fail is movies. I love talking about movies; what works in movies, what doesn’t work, my favorites, my least favorites, or just my experience watching them. To me, movies aren’t just a form of entertainment, they’re also a form of art, a form of storytelling, a form of communication. Their messages can ripple across an entire population and change the way that we think about the world around us. They can bring us into an incredibly beautiful world that can take our minds off of how terrifying real life can sometimes be or they can bring new awareness to an aspect of reality that their audiences never even thought about before. Movies are a form of expression, and the best ones can be impactful to everyone on many different levels.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Geeks
Road Trip Lessons
Sam stared out the car window with a vacant expression, one earbud in, trying to ignore the world around him. Was this really happening? Were his parents really dragging him on a weekend road trip across the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway just for some “bonding time?” This was a setup. Sam didn’t want anything to do with his parents. He wanted to spend some time with his friends on Pearl Street, but no, Mom and Dad had to yank him out of Boulder to take him on a tour of “interesting historical landmarks.” Great, so basically a bunch of old, rotting buildings. It sounded like the trip of a lifetime.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Earth
Love is Complicated
This is a speech that I wrote for a digital cabaret performance before I realized that the amount of time I needed to talk between songs actually shouldn't have been this long. Here is that essay now, containing the titles of the two songs I sang, "Being Alive" and "Run Away With Me."
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Confessions
An Exploration of Teenage Love: The Playlist
As a teenager, it's hard navigating the difficulties of relationships. Often, young men and women idealize the idea of being with someone, never fully comprehending the concept of spending every waking moment with someone who should be your best friend. Even now, it's hard for me to comprehend that concept. I often still want to jump into things without thinking, but I like to think I'm getting better at recognizing when certain connections are working and when others are not. Many songs have stuck with me over the years that have influenced my experiences with love in one way or another, and these are those songs.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Beat
The Exploration of the Main Character in Tandolfo the Great
For those of you who have been enjoying my random short story reviews, I'm planning to do more full-on book reviews in the near future since this is the main medium I can use to do that. For now, though, I hope you enjoy yet another short story review.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Humans
Audition (The Fools Who Dream): An Original Short Story Based on The Oscar-Nominated Song
My aunt used to live in Paris. I remember she used to tell my sister and me these stories about living abroad whenever my family visited her. She told us that she jumped into a river once, barefoot and in a dress. She smiled as she relived this story. I remember her telling us that she was driving by the Seine and had this impulse to pull over next to it. She looked down and decided to take off her shoes and run to the edge of the bridge she had parked on. She leaped in without even looking where she was going and landed cleanly into the Seine. The water was freezing, enveloping her completely. She managed to climb out of the river and drive home, but that evening, she started feeling stuffy. She spent the rest of the month with a cold. Even after that, though, she told us that if she had gotten the chance to do it, she was more than willing to jump into the Seine again. She was so invigorated by the sudden rush the cold water gave her and by the fact that she did it in the first place that the idea of doing it again made her excited.
By Jamie Lammers3 years ago in Humans