The Future of Us: A Taylor Swift Parody

Hey Blogger Buds,
Last week, I wrote a review for The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. It's out tomorrow. So. I wrote a song. You may remember As Long As You'll Dine: A Wicked Parody.
I've heard multiple people comment on the Taylor-esque title of the book. Before reading my parody, I suggest you go listen to The Story of Us on YouTube.  There's the official music video. And there are versions with the lyrics.
Sorry for going linkage crazy.
Oh, I almost forgot. Add the book on Goodreads, if you're interested!

If you've never heard Taylor before, you might want to go hear the song once before checking out my parody. You also might want to listen to it again, while you read the parody.

The storyline is a weird one. I didn't really know where I was going when I was writing the song, and it ended up on two sort of connected plotlines. A girl is chatting with her boyfriend and she accidentally lets a typo slip, which simultaneously lets in spam that crashes her computer (a Mac. Sorry, I'm a PC) and ends her relationship.

*I used the one-syllable pronunciation of "meme." ("meem")
So, without further ado...


The Future of Us
TTTO: The Story of Us by Taylor Swift

I used to think one day, there’d be a future for us,
How we’d log on, Facebook instantly,
Tweeple would say, “They’re the lucky ones.”
I used to know My Space was a click beyond yours,
Now I’m searching the web for a username
‘Cause lately I don’t even know what page you’re on.

Oh, a simple web sensation,
Miscommunications lead to fall-out
So many memes that I wish you knew,
So many firewalls and spam’s breaking through.

Now I’m sitting alone with a Starbucks cup and we’re not chatting,
And I’m dying to know if they’re billing you like they’re billing me, meh?
I don’t know what to write, since the typo slipped, and my Mac broke down,
And that future of us looks a lot like an #epicfail.

Next email.

How’d it end up this way?
See me nervously pulling up email and trying to look busy,
And you’re doing your best to not @ me.
I’m starting to think one day I’ll blog the #fail that is us,
How I was losing IE when I saw you vlog,
But you held your mouse like you should’ve held me.

Oh, I’m scared to see the fanbase,
Why’d I stay in cyberspace instead of logging out?
I swear I would “Like” you, but I forgot how,
I’ve never seen frowniesL quite this loud.

Now I’m sitting alone with a Starbucks cup and we’re not chatting,
And I’m dying to know if they’re billing you like they’re billing me, meh?
I don’t know what to write, since the typo slipped and my Mac broke down.
And that future of us looks a lot like an #epicfail.

This is looking like a tumblr tumbling mess,
Of who can write and still Wordpress
But I Liked it better when you were on my site.
The battle’s in your mouse now,
But I would lay my keyboard down
If you send you’d “rather blog than brawl.”

So many memes that you wish I knew,
And The Future of Us will be published soon!!!!

Now I’m sitting alone with a Starbucks cup and we’re not chatting,
And I’m dying to know if they’re billing you like they’re billing me, meh?
I don’t know what to write since the typo slipped and my Mac broke down,
And that future of us looks a lot like an #epicfail, fail, fail.

And we’re not chatting,
And I’m trying to know if they’re billing you like they’re billing me, meh?
I don’t know what to code since the virus slipped, and my Mac went down,
And that future of us looks a lot like an #epicfail.

Shut down.

**I just want to mention that this parody is in no way meant to offend Taylor Swift, her song The Story of Us, or The Future of Us by Asher and Mackler. I'm not trying to infringe on any copyright, either. This parody is for the purpose of publicizing the song and the book, in hopes of spreading them to more people.

I hope you guys enjoyed! Please tell me what you think, and if you want more parodies in the future!

Also, if you have any ideas for other book/song parodies like the two I've already done, please let me know! Either shoot me an email, or leave a comment anywhere on my blog!

The Future of Us comes out tomorrow, Monday November 21st.

Peace and PCs,

Riv

The Future of Us Review

(For those of you who saw this yesterday, sorry! I forgot to schedule it.)
Hey Blogger Buds,
It's been a while since I've put up a review. The Future of of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, is released Monday, November 21st.
Some of you may remember "As Long As You'll Dine: A Wicked Parody" which is a parody of, well, Wicked. As in, Broadway Wicked. I had a lot of fun writing ALAYD, and I've made another parody for The Future of Us. I'll leave you guessing what song I'm parodying. Hint: the genre is pop-country.
Pop back in next Sunday for the parody!
So. On to the review. Summary from Amazon.com

The Future of Us on Goodreads.

Blurby:

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.
By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Review:
[Note: This review isn't a full review, like usual. It's just my thoughts. It's kind of scattered, partially coherent and, like my brain, mostly scary.]
[Sorry in advance for the poor review.]

The book was interesting. I felt like the authors were trying to hard with the world building. (Five pages in, and I'm being overwhelmed with "pop" culture references.)
And, although I'm assuming that Jay Asher wrote the chapters from Josh's POV and Carolyn Mackler wrote Emma's chapters, I didn't find a distinction between the two voices, oddly enough. The key to multiple authors is clearly separating the voices, and I wasn't feeling it.
It was a pretty good book though. It wasn't predictable, and the ending was very bittersweet. Upon hearing about the book, I wondered how the authors would do it, and they incorporated Facebook very well.
There were some "inside jokes" for the reader as well. For example, two characters were talking about Ellen DeGeneres. One said that he thinks she might be gay, and the other character replied that it's impossible.

I recommend this book to those who can reminisce about the good ol' days, when computers took FOREVER to turn on, and you had to unplug your phone line to use the internet.
I also recommend it for those goshdarn young-un's, so we they can point and laugh. :)


I give The Future of Us 3 stars. Mediocre book. Not compelling, but interesting.

Pre-order TFoU: Amazon Book Depository Barnes and Noble

Peace and Interwebs,
Riv

Thirteen Reasons Why Review

Hey Blogger Buds,
Today, as you can see, I'm reviewing Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I highly recommend this one; it's gotten fantastic reviews, and the message is brilliant. I'm mostly reviewing this book to get it out there to those of you living under a rock. You'll see why in a moment.
(Linkage below)

Blurby:
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.
Through Hannah and Clay’s dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Review:
I wondered how Jay Asher was going to support the dual narratives and it was done very tastefully, with very little confusion.
I totally felt both Clay's and Hannah's emotions, though I had some problems.
Clay was incredible. He was "that good guy" who everyone likes. He was just..the perfect character for this. He was so genuine.
I didn't like Hannah, though. Whenever she went onto the next tape, the next reason, I was so hopeful that I would get it. But I didn't, and the entire narration just screamed "angst". But a little bit...I got it. We're teenagers. Teens blow everything out of proportion, and I can...excuse...Hannah's behavior, I suppose. But she didn't make sense to me.
And then we got to the reason that Clay got these tapes and it felt like...like such a cop out.
Not to offend Jay Asher, but one thing about the book reminded me of--dare I say it?--Twilight. Twilight was incredibly addictive for no reason; I couldn't put it down, and I didn't even like it that much. I like 13 Reasons Why more, definitely, but not enough to read it at 2 am. But I was glued to the book until I realized how late it was and summoned all my willpower to stop.
The ending was incredible, though. My favorite part was that last page. It got me thinking, huh. Maybe that ball of angst did some good in the end and I'd love some sort of epilogue, to see if it's true, but that ending was so hopeful, and put this big smile on my face.
Sidepoint, no reflection on review: Curious, I decided to hear the audiobook. Right now, I'm listening to a free sample from Random House, and--honestly?--I recommend you pick up the book, even if you usually listen to audiobooks. Clay sounds like the guy who did voiceover for Hiccup, from How To Train Your Dragon (yup. just listened to a bit of the HtTYD trailer for a comparison, and it's uncanny). And Hannah sounds like a 30 year old chain smoker. No offense, but I recommend the paper book.

The book wasn't bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I highly recommend it, though. This is a book that needs to be read, thus why I reviewed it. Though I can hardly handle the fact that it's going to be movie-fied, and by Selena Gomez.

Rating: 3 stars. Mediocre book.

Linkage: Goodreads Borders Amazon B&N BookDepo Site (go to it!) Hannah's Blog (wait, what? Oh)

Peace,
Riv

Current Music: Soul Sister, Gleekified
Current Mood: Meh