Worse Off Wednesday

Worse Off Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by me!  The Book Buff in which we discuss characters in books who have it worse off than us.

Today we are going to be talking about a lovable giant dog and children's classic: Clifford  The Big Red Dog.  See, there is a dark underbelly to the classic children's series that people rarely, if ever, consider.

Oh sure, being a giant dog seems all peaches and cream.  When the school bus is full, go ahead and ride the big red dog to your field trip (never mind the liability involved-we'll leave that alone for right now)  What?  An elephant has gone missing from the circus?  Clifford can fill in!  Like I said, it sounds great, but when little miss Emily Elizabeth made her wish for her dog to be huge, did she even consider the havoc gigantism wreaks on a body?  Didn't think so, for starters...

Sufferers of this disease often develop frequent infections, and are more likely to experience kidney failure, other health problems "[include] hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea (when breathing stops during sleep), carpal tunnel syndrome (pain, numbness or a tingling sensation in the hand or fingers). So people with untreated acromegaly gigantism, in addition to the growth problems,...can [experience] premature death because of the other associated problems. They get organomegaly--so all their organs get big, too--[and] they have a higher incidence of heart disease. Then you couple that with hypertension and diabetes and you can imagine they don't live very long." *

In summation my worst health problems are a sensitive tummy and allergies.  Clifford's heart is too big, he has diabetes, his joints ache, he can't sleep and he has an owner who would wish all this crap on him.  So I'd say yeah, Clifford the Big Red Dog is worse off than me! 

Do you want to participate in Worse Off Wednesday?  If so, please grab the Worse Off Wednesday icon at the top of this post to include in your own post.  After you've participated, head back here and leave your link in my Mr. Linky so all of my followers can check you out!

 

*Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-gigantism-sandy-allen

Worse Off Wednesday

This is the weekly meme hosted by me, The Book Buff in which we discuss those in books who have it oh so worse off than us.  Read on, enjoy, and pass it along!

My subject of Worse of Wednesday is not so much one individual, but rather a sad, totally not cared about demographic.  That is, that guy who loves the girl in the love triangle, but alas, is not even thought of enough to be in said triangle.  No one cares, not even us, the readers.  An example you ask?  Gladly.  The first to come to my mind is Mike Newton from the oft criticized and very polarizing series, The Twilight Saga.  Whether you love or hate the books (is there even an in between?) you probably didn't even notice this nice, but gasp! non paranormal dude.

See, he's cute, he's nice, he's not overtly controlling.  But he, albeit unwittingly, commits the most egregious sin in all of YA paranormal-dom.  He's not sparkly or semi canine, or __insert paranormal aspect here__.  How. Dare. He.  This character is very similar to and often overlaps with the best friend forever relegated to the friend zone no matter how hot/cute/sweet he is (i.e Duckie in Pretty in Pink, I will never forgive Molly Ringwald for picking the snob over him)  Sometimes the guy who doesn't get the girl lucks out and gets another one.  This other girl might even be prettier or more awesome than the original girl (again i.e. Duckie), but we don't care, because she isn't the main character. 

So next time you get caught up in Team Wars, just give a moment of silence to those who will never have a team, or if they do, it is very small and will never have an official t-shirt or snazzy blog button. 

If you are participating in Worse Off Wednesday, feel free to link the post up right here!  Remember to leave the URL of the Worse Off Wednesday post, not you blog URL :)

Worse Off Wednesday

Well, this is my first meme, so I thought hey, why not just make up my own?  So here it is, Worse Off Wednesday...

We all have problems, it's true, but it seems characters in books have it waaaaay worse.  Whether it's a bunch of kids fighting for their lives gladiator style, or just a dude married to the most obnoxious woman alive (i.e. poor poor Mr. Bennett) I'm willing to bet that if you really think about it, you can find a character in the book you are reading right now who is worse off than you.  So tell me, who is it?

For my first Worse Off Wednesday, I think I'm going to go with a classic, and probably one of my favorite characters in all of book-dom: Severus Snape (spoilers ahead, if you haven't read all of the books, beware!)

First of all, no one likes the dude, except maybe me.  He's just not attractive (though I think Alan Rickman was more than attractive in Sense and Sensibility :) and the only woman he ever loved, up and married his nemesis and popped out a kid who totally hates him!  Yes, his demeanor doesn't help his situation much, but nobody ever loved him so he's crotchety, give him a break!  He made some stupid mistakes as a kid, fell into the wrong crowd, and now he's stuck playing a spy and living a double life, which does not turn out well for him.  In summation: He's not attractive, he has no friends, he had a tragic love life, and he died.  Poor guy.  So while yes, I have problems, I've got it better than Severus Snape.

If you participate in this meme, please let me know in the comments!