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This was President's weekend, and so I didn't have to work yesterday. This weekend was simply wonderful, wonderful because I got everything pressing done that I needed to do and even had time for some idleness, to read and watch Olympic skating simply because I wanted to, not because I had to. I got a good deal of writing done too, in finishing the Carnistir chapters (which turned out longer and not as crappy as I expected) and working a bit more on my NaNoWriMo novel. Jenni is playing some of the NPCs in my original RPG ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
themidhavens, and chatting the past few days to get her caught up on history and the like has awakened my Midhavens' muses. (My NaNo novel is based in the world that I use for the RPG campaign.)
Friday, Bobby and I had a dinner-and-a-movie date. We saw Freedomland. I thought Julianne Moore did a nice job as the crazy mother, but now, three days later, I find that the movie didn't make too much of an impact on me. I am finding that more and more: The more movies I watch, the fewer I remember fondly days after seeing them. I am becoming very picky about my movies, I know that much. It is no longer enough to simply be entertained. I feel like every storyline is something I've seen before, so I want something more. I think this about writing sometimes too: Is it advantageous to hone your skill so much? I used to enjoy reading utter dreck--popular novels without much beyond a glossy plot. Now, I try to read that stuff--to be entertained--and I find myself picking it apart. Rolling my eyes at the characters. Giggling at the metaphors. Not that I'm a perfect writer...but I've become a picky reader, and it is harder and harder to entertain me.
For example, I picked the last Harry Potter book to pieces. It's a freaking children's book...and I love the series overall. But I had a hard time being entertained. Do any of you find this, that the more you try to improve as a writer, the less you are entertained by the stories--books and movies--treasured by the general population? Is it worth it, do you think, to satisfy innocent enjoyment for a hobby that might result in a few online "fans" for us but little more?
Anyway.
All of this Olympic skating on television has really put me in the mood to skate. Of course, there was no club skating this weekend due to the holiday. Of course. *grumbles* But my ever-kind husband went to the Columbia roller rink for a public session with me on Saturday afternoon. The place was smaller than I was used to, but they had a wooden floor--not concrete--so that was good. The floor didn't have the grip that I get on the rink floor at Putty Hill; I could feel my skates sliding sideways when I took hard edges. That is not a confident feeling. That and the fact that the place was pretty crowded meant that I practiced a few easy jumps and some holds--spirals, spreadeagles--and no spins. But it was nice to have my feet in skates.
I've been really enjoying the Olympic skating that's always on TV. I haven't missed an event except for the compulsory dance, which is rather...erm...boring. But I do have to say that I have been less than pleased with the commentary we get, at least in the U.S. The figure skating commentators are well-known ex-Olympians, and they are very harsh. They will trash a skater's program as "boring" or pick on flaws in his/her technique. They are fond of trying to explain behavior based on antecedants like "She fell yesterday...look how nervous she is; you can see it in her slow footwork," which reeks of confirmation bias to me.
It is my feeling that they should be more supportive of world-class athletes with the courage to represent their country in such a competition. And most viewers are far from experts. I actually know what a "salchow" is...I know the different spin positions and how they're supposed to look, and I don't like to hear nitpicks that even I--as an artistic skater--cannot see. To a person who doesn't know a lutz from a flip from a loop, it must be utterly inane to have to sit through this.
And I'm sorry, but if someone goes out and does a quadruple jump, I don't care how crappy the landing, I'm too agog to criticize. I can't even do a single axle.
Anyway.
Saturday night, we took our families to Timbucktu for a thank you dinner. Both families have given us a lot over the past few months, so it seemed only fair. Timbucktu is a really nice restaurant in our area. Incidentally, we had our wedding "reception" there. The meal, as always, was excellent. The service, as always, was great.
Then today, my dad calls me and asks me the weirdest question: Has Timbucktu changed to a "black" restaurant?
So I asked him what he meant, and he clarified that there were only five other "white" parties in the dining room beside us.
So is Timbucktu now a "black" restaurant?
To begin, I was utterly embarrassed because my boss (who is black) was standing in my office, having a chat with me, and I was mortified to think that he could hear what my dad was saying since my dad is not the quietest guy on the phone...or anytime. (Incidentally, Timbucktu was also recommended to us by my boss.) Secondly, I wasn't exactly sure of the mechanism that my dad thought was in place here. Did Timbucktu become a "black" restaurant? Meaning what? That a declaration of such is made; that a full-page ad is now taken out in The Baltimore Sun: Timbucktu is henceforth a black restaurant. Black people should all come and try to run the white folks away. Secondly, I don't see why the fuck it matters the skin color of the patrons in a restaurant. Timbucktu is one of the nicest places in our area. Am I supposed to think that it is something less now because the majority of the diners there on Saturday night were black? Am I supposed to be afraid to go there now? Am I supposed to feel excluded? Am I supposed to roll my eyes and say, "There goes the neighborhood"?
Pardon me but: What the fuck??
Did I time-warp back to 1956? Or are we still in 2006? Last I heard, black and white folks are welcome to eat together in the same restaurants and places "belong" to neither race.
*quietly screams lest she disturb her black, Timbucktu-patronizin' boss*
Then, today, I am sitting in my office, minding my own business, reading the latest chapter of Ellie's "Crossroads of Time" over atsilwritersguild, and Bill the Fake-Ass Bureau Chief--a.k.a. the "Acting Bureau Chief"--comes in to take some furniture. And he asks me, "So Dawn, are you ready to come to Baltimore?"
This is like the fourth time he has asked me this in five visits. At first, I laughed it off. Now, I'm really starting to wonder. I shall have to speak to Johnny the Boss (yes, the black, Timbucktu-perpetratin' guy in the office across the hall) if there is something I need to know about this. For example, has the notion of one Dawn Felagund going down to the Baltimore office been batted around between the superior minds of our bureau? It would not surprise me to hear that this was so, as I am apparently Teh Champion of WAU Support Staff. Not like that's saying much. Some of you may recall that Johnny and I were both going to move to an office in the city--supposedly with pay raises and grade increases all around--but it turned out that the pay scale was a Corrections pay scale (versus Parole and Probation), and we'd be making basically the same as we do now for twice the work. I have no problem going to work in Baltimore...but not for what I'm making now. No way.
Nor am I tempted to leave Johnny, who--as far as I am concerned--is the best boss a meager research geek like me could hope for. Even if he's black and likes Timbucktu. (Actually, I kind of like both things about him!) The city unit and everyone affiliated with it tends to get on my nerves.
Oh, and here is the quote of the day, just uttered to me by one half of the two coworkers lovingly known (by me) as Alatar and Pallando:
Alatar: Dawn, I don't know the name of the system, but can you run him in it and find some relatives' addresses?
Luckily, my mind-reading skillz are in effect today, and I knew what system he was talking about.
themidhavens, and chatting the past few days to get her caught up on history and the like has awakened my Midhavens' muses. (My NaNo novel is based in the world that I use for the RPG campaign.)Friday, Bobby and I had a dinner-and-a-movie date. We saw Freedomland. I thought Julianne Moore did a nice job as the crazy mother, but now, three days later, I find that the movie didn't make too much of an impact on me. I am finding that more and more: The more movies I watch, the fewer I remember fondly days after seeing them. I am becoming very picky about my movies, I know that much. It is no longer enough to simply be entertained. I feel like every storyline is something I've seen before, so I want something more. I think this about writing sometimes too: Is it advantageous to hone your skill so much? I used to enjoy reading utter dreck--popular novels without much beyond a glossy plot. Now, I try to read that stuff--to be entertained--and I find myself picking it apart. Rolling my eyes at the characters. Giggling at the metaphors. Not that I'm a perfect writer...but I've become a picky reader, and it is harder and harder to entertain me.
For example, I picked the last Harry Potter book to pieces. It's a freaking children's book...and I love the series overall. But I had a hard time being entertained. Do any of you find this, that the more you try to improve as a writer, the less you are entertained by the stories--books and movies--treasured by the general population? Is it worth it, do you think, to satisfy innocent enjoyment for a hobby that might result in a few online "fans" for us but little more?
Anyway.
All of this Olympic skating on television has really put me in the mood to skate. Of course, there was no club skating this weekend due to the holiday. Of course. *grumbles* But my ever-kind husband went to the Columbia roller rink for a public session with me on Saturday afternoon. The place was smaller than I was used to, but they had a wooden floor--not concrete--so that was good. The floor didn't have the grip that I get on the rink floor at Putty Hill; I could feel my skates sliding sideways when I took hard edges. That is not a confident feeling. That and the fact that the place was pretty crowded meant that I practiced a few easy jumps and some holds--spirals, spreadeagles--and no spins. But it was nice to have my feet in skates.
I've been really enjoying the Olympic skating that's always on TV. I haven't missed an event except for the compulsory dance, which is rather...erm...boring. But I do have to say that I have been less than pleased with the commentary we get, at least in the U.S. The figure skating commentators are well-known ex-Olympians, and they are very harsh. They will trash a skater's program as "boring" or pick on flaws in his/her technique. They are fond of trying to explain behavior based on antecedants like "She fell yesterday...look how nervous she is; you can see it in her slow footwork," which reeks of confirmation bias to me.
It is my feeling that they should be more supportive of world-class athletes with the courage to represent their country in such a competition. And most viewers are far from experts. I actually know what a "salchow" is...I know the different spin positions and how they're supposed to look, and I don't like to hear nitpicks that even I--as an artistic skater--cannot see. To a person who doesn't know a lutz from a flip from a loop, it must be utterly inane to have to sit through this.
And I'm sorry, but if someone goes out and does a quadruple jump, I don't care how crappy the landing, I'm too agog to criticize. I can't even do a single axle.
Anyway.
Saturday night, we took our families to Timbucktu for a thank you dinner. Both families have given us a lot over the past few months, so it seemed only fair. Timbucktu is a really nice restaurant in our area. Incidentally, we had our wedding "reception" there. The meal, as always, was excellent. The service, as always, was great.
Then today, my dad calls me and asks me the weirdest question: Has Timbucktu changed to a "black" restaurant?
So I asked him what he meant, and he clarified that there were only five other "white" parties in the dining room beside us.
So is Timbucktu now a "black" restaurant?
To begin, I was utterly embarrassed because my boss (who is black) was standing in my office, having a chat with me, and I was mortified to think that he could hear what my dad was saying since my dad is not the quietest guy on the phone...or anytime. (Incidentally, Timbucktu was also recommended to us by my boss.) Secondly, I wasn't exactly sure of the mechanism that my dad thought was in place here. Did Timbucktu become a "black" restaurant? Meaning what? That a declaration of such is made; that a full-page ad is now taken out in The Baltimore Sun: Timbucktu is henceforth a black restaurant. Black people should all come and try to run the white folks away. Secondly, I don't see why the fuck it matters the skin color of the patrons in a restaurant. Timbucktu is one of the nicest places in our area. Am I supposed to think that it is something less now because the majority of the diners there on Saturday night were black? Am I supposed to be afraid to go there now? Am I supposed to feel excluded? Am I supposed to roll my eyes and say, "There goes the neighborhood"?
Pardon me but: What the fuck??
Did I time-warp back to 1956? Or are we still in 2006? Last I heard, black and white folks are welcome to eat together in the same restaurants and places "belong" to neither race.
*quietly screams lest she disturb her black, Timbucktu-patronizin' boss*
Then, today, I am sitting in my office, minding my own business, reading the latest chapter of Ellie's "Crossroads of Time" over at
silwritersguild, and Bill the Fake-Ass Bureau Chief--a.k.a. the "Acting Bureau Chief"--comes in to take some furniture. And he asks me, "So Dawn, are you ready to come to Baltimore?"This is like the fourth time he has asked me this in five visits. At first, I laughed it off. Now, I'm really starting to wonder. I shall have to speak to Johnny the Boss (yes, the black, Timbucktu-perpetratin' guy in the office across the hall) if there is something I need to know about this. For example, has the notion of one Dawn Felagund going down to the Baltimore office been batted around between the superior minds of our bureau? It would not surprise me to hear that this was so, as I am apparently Teh Champion of WAU Support Staff. Not like that's saying much. Some of you may recall that Johnny and I were both going to move to an office in the city--supposedly with pay raises and grade increases all around--but it turned out that the pay scale was a Corrections pay scale (versus Parole and Probation), and we'd be making basically the same as we do now for twice the work. I have no problem going to work in Baltimore...but not for what I'm making now. No way.
Nor am I tempted to leave Johnny, who--as far as I am concerned--is the best boss a meager research geek like me could hope for. Even if he's black and likes Timbucktu. (Actually, I kind of like both things about him!) The city unit and everyone affiliated with it tends to get on my nerves.
Oh, and here is the quote of the day, just uttered to me by one half of the two coworkers lovingly known (by me) as Alatar and Pallando:
Alatar: Dawn, I don't know the name of the system, but can you run him in it and find some relatives' addresses?
Luckily, my mind-reading skillz are in effect today, and I knew what system he was talking about.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 05:59 pm (UTC)OMG, Dawn. You want a really incredible movie? Rent Crash. Like, now. Leave work, abandon the warrents, and go watch that movie. (OK, I'm kidding! But rent it soon.) It's amazing. Words cannot describe.
but I've become a picky reader, and it is harder and harder to entertain me.
*sigh* I sympathize. I've become progressively more finicky. My current read-for-pleasure, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Firebrand, isn't satisfying me like The Mists of Avalon did.
And re: Harry Potter... Hm... Well, I'm a diehard fan (upon finishing HBP a couple weeks ago, I was in utter floods), and I love it, but I found myself incredulous at some scenes and words. And I'm no great writer by any stretch, so I have no right to criticize!
Do any of you find this, that the more you try to improve as a writer, the less you are entertained by the stories--books and movies--treasured by the general population?
Well, for me, it isn't improvement as a writer (since I don't write that much), but as a reader of various fanfictions that melt their way into my personal canon.
Hm... Well, let's give a sort-of example. Before seeing the Goblet of Fire movie, I was going to re-read the fourth book. It's what I always do before a movie, to give me a renewed acquaintance with the plot and details. But I didn't have time before this one, so a couple days before it, I decided I would forego my traditional re-read and go into the movie "blind", so to speak. I found that this lowered my expectations, I was more relaxed, and I wasn't hyper-critical of every change. Afterwards, my two friends and I went to Big Boy's to discuss it (another tradition: after every fannish movie, we must away to Big Boy's to pick it apart), and we were able to focus on what the movie did well, rather than what it did badly/didn't do at all.
So... I can relax my expectations for enjoyment. When I re-read HBP, I let go of all the uber-good fanfics I'd read recently and lost myself in the real tale.
When my sister hooked me on Gaelen Foley's romance novels, I was scornful. Cliches, smut, and badly contrived romances would, no doubt, ensue, I thought. Which was true enough, once I started reading...
...but I was able to let go of it, and enjoy the story for what it was. (Which was, so to say, smut and plot fairly equally present.)
Perhaps this is because I am not as serious a writer, or I haven't written as much, or something. Or maybe its just everyone's own opinion.
I've been really enjoying the Olympic skating that's always on TV.
*squees* I watched the ice dancing finals last night. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff (though I was pissed that I missed the French pair who skated to Les Mis). I can't wait for the ladies' short program (tonight, 8-11:30 PM Eastern) and ladies' free skate (Thursday, 8-12 PM Eastern). One of my guy friends came over around 10 last night, and he watched the finals with me. My roommate cracked up when she walked in on us arguing over who was the best so far.
To a person who doesn't know a lutz from a flip from a loop, it must be utterly inane to have to sit through this.
*grins* We of this ignorant class develop a finely-tuned hearing filter, which allows only the music and sounds of skates on ice in, and blocks out those pesky commentators.
Did I time-warp back to 1956? Or are we still in 2006? Last I heard, black and white folks are welcome to eat together in the same restaurants and places "belong" to neither race.
... *eyebrow twitch*
*mutters* Race is an entirely cultural construct, which shouldn't matter, but it does, and causes all these problems and confusions...
Grrr...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 07:47 pm (UTC)I own it! My husband bought it for me for Christmas after we watched in on On Demand one night. It's a great movie; one of my favorites from last year. :)
Well, I'm a diehard fan (upon finishing HBP a couple weeks ago, I was in utter floods), and I love it, but I found myself incredulous at some scenes and words. And I'm no great writer by any stretch, so I have no right to criticize!
Incredulous as in liking them or not liking them?
Secondly, you are an excellent writer, so I don't want to hear that bullocky from you. ;)
I love the premise of Harry Potter and books 3, 4, and 5 won my heart...but I was disappointed in 6. Of course, I acknowledge that part of that was the fact that I heard on the radio how it ended before reading it. I knew that Dumbledore died but had no idea how...until some snotty damned kid spit it out on the radio. I was pissed. *seethes* And so any emotional reaction that I might have had to that scene was ruined, although I found the funeral to be quite sad, where he's scared because he doesn't know what to expect. I've been there...that was so spot-on that I'm wubbling again now, just thinking about it.
Perhaps this is because I am not as serious a writer, or I haven't written as much, or something.
Thinking more on it, I don't know that it's writing so much as analyzing writing. I beta/edit an average of two stories per week. I've been doing beta/edit work since I was 19. So it's hard to read for enjoyment and not automatically switch to the mode where I'm analyzing the writer's style/devices/characters/etc.
I can't wait for the ladies' short program
Oooh...me too! Kimmie Meissner, the 15-year-old American, goes to school ten minutes from where I grew up, so she's kind of a hometown hero. I'm cheering for her. :)
*grins* We of this ignorant class develop a finely-tuned hearing filter, which allows only the music and sounds of skates on ice in, and blocks out those pesky commentators.
Lol! I wish that I could do this. I guess I've been on the other side of the audience enough times to not want my hard work being trashed in a public forum by some has-been. (*can't believe she just called Dick Button a has-been...but moving on*) It seems rather rude to me, and I've yet to see another sport where they're so unsupportive and openly critical.
*mutters* Race is an entirely cultural construct, which shouldn't matter, but it does, and causes all these problems and confusions...
I was really quite shocked at the question...by the fact that it was asked, even though it was more or less rhetorical (because how am I to know how Timbucktu is regarded in the AA community?), implying that there was something bothersome about eating in a place where most of the patrons are African American.
Judging on race is stupid. How can an aspect of physical appearance determine a person's competence/character/whatever? That's like honestly believing that I'm stupid because I'm blond. Or that I'm mean-spirited because I have blue eyes. It's ridiculous.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:57 pm (UTC)Well, now that I think on it... Both senses of the word. There were parts that took my breath away, and parts that I simply stared, thinking, "...wtf?"
Secondly, you are an excellent writer, so I don't want to hear that bullocky from you. ;)
*blush* Thank you.
I love the premise of Harry Potter and books 3, 4, and 5 won my heart...but I was disappointed in 6.
It was kind of switched for me... but only a little. On reading HBP, I realized how suffocating OotP was. It was so long, and dark, and there was so little trust, and... it was kind of a rough read. It languished (as did Harry). Whereas HBP, on the other hand, was proactive, there was a sense of moving forward, and there was trust. Everyone was on the same page.
Of course, I acknowledge that part of that was the fact that I heard on the radio how it ended before reading it.
...OMG. That's terrible. What a snotty little brat (the radio kid).
I was lucky, and managed to remain unspoilered.
...Aw, crap, I have to go to class now. Second half of comment shall come later.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 09:55 pm (UTC)*waves hi for a quick butt-in*
It's weird, but I'm just the opposite here. I loved The Firebrand much more than I liked The Mists of Avalon. Granted, I own both, but between the two, I reach for The Firebrand. Miaybe because I read it first, and that's what introduced me to MZB, but I don't think that has too much impact on the fact that I like it more. Or maybe I'm just silly that way... ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:54 pm (UTC)I'm almost finished with it (less than 100 pgs. to go!), but it's just not hooking me the same way MoA did. Hm...
Perhaps it is something to do with Mists being the first book to introduce me to MZB, and same for you with Firebrand.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-21 11:30 pm (UTC)I went about it backwards, then! LOL! Everyone kept telling me I needed to read MoA, but the book was huge and soft-cover, so more expensive. I looked for something else, and I found Firebrand. Now, I love almost anything written about the Trojan War, which is my most favorite Greek Myth (ironically, I've never read The Iliad), so naturally I snatched it up. And *loved* it.
And yes, I *loved* the movie Troy. Not only because OB is in it, but he was a big reason why he went. I did enjoy the story lots. :-)