Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

Funny blogs are cool

Okay, so last week I put up my own little mini-rant about the Gene Wolfe workshop brouhaha, but now I've been thinking a little more about it, in large part due to Trey's July 25th post, and this post from Hannah.

I think I may have jumped to conclusions. I wasn't there. It is not fair of me to judge these students when I have no personal knowlege of the types of critiques they are complaining about. It's possible that their complaints are entirely justified. Maybe, maybe not. Impossible for me to say. I think that I was feeling a weird combination of feelings about some negative feedback I've gotten recently, and I was stinging from that as well as thinking that the feedback is probably justified. Hmm.

Anyway, it was a little judgemental of me and I want to apologize to anyone who actually cares what I think. ^_^

On another note, I may have had a bit of a breakthrough with Kevin, the boyfriend character from CIAG. It's not ready to go in the manuscript yet, but I've been doing some extracurricular activities with him, and I think some of it is starting to pay off.

On yet another note, the North Carolina Museum of Art is having a jazz concert followed by an outdoor cinema screening of "Chicago" on Saturday night! Woo!! I am so there, and it looks like I may have several others planning to go with me too! Woo! Party!!

Ooh! Ooh! And just now, when I went to get the art museum link, I found out the concert is by Katherine Whalen and her Jazz Squad. She used to be in Squirrel Nut Zippers!! I love them, and her!! This is going to rock!! ^_^

Okay, first, I had the pleasure to chat for a while with Wendy Delmater, who suggested that I study mystery novels and also that I may want to introduce a secondary conflict to CIAG. Very good thoughts, and I will definitely give them some thought of my own.

The other point relates to a letter from Gene Wolfe, who was to be a writer in residence at the Odyssey writing workshop. Apparently, several of his students were very thin skinned and they actually boycotted his class because they didn't like his critiques! So he did the classy thing and withdrew himself early.

Now, I know it can be very painful to hear that something may be wrong with something I've written. It's like a punch to the gut. It's no fun. But you know what? You don't go to these workshops to have fun, you go to them to improve your writing! Unless the critique in question is about personal insults instead of about the writing, I think that there is a matter of tact, but if there is something wrong with the story, the critiquer should say so, even if it hurts the writer's feelings. *sigh* Oh well.

So I was over surfing at SentimentalRomantic, Clarissa Smith's blog, and she pointed me to The Cat Speaks, a quite entertaining blog written by a cat.

And no, it's not just a sophomoric jumble of random letters. It's actually quite clever. Go check it out!

What Finding Nemo Character are You?
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On another note, I am really grateful to a couple of my recent critters for unloading both barrels on my chapter two. I knew there was something still not right, but they pointed out some nasty authorial tics that I'm prone to. ("for a moment", "again", "seemed", and "cleared her throat.") Also pointing out that Kevin is still a cardboard cutout. Now I know what to work on! ^_^ Whee! Thanks Larry, Bill and Kevin!

Wow, you know I tell ya, life is funny sometimes. And all because of online chat!
I don't actually go on chat all that often, but I have the last couple of days, because I was actually feeling a little isolated, sitting at home by myself. I even wondered if chat was the right way to handle that. (I think sometimes it is, but not always.) Anyway, yesterday I come across Nikki, an online friend of mine who I haven't talked to in a long time, and then tonight, I come across Manda, the first friend I made when I moved out here to North Carolina! Weird!

Well, in case any of you were worried, I arranged for my company to pay for the hotel directly, so no substantial worries there, just minor embarrassment. But I don't care about that today. I'm writing!

Where do the stories come from? They sure don't feel like they're coming from me. Is it God? Or perhaps he has just given us this capacity to do this from our subconscious mind. Or something else altogether? In truth, I suspect the subconscious, but sometimes it really feels like it must come from somewhere outside myself.

Stephen King, in his excellent book, On Writing, likens the process to digging up a fossil. The story is complete, and out there somewhere. The process of writing is not genuinely the process of creation, but rather the process of digging that fossil up a bit at a time. He elaborates on that further, but I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that I found it a wonderful analogy.

So, why do I bring it up at all? ^_^ Because "Call It A Gift" chapter three is progressing in just that way. I feel like I'm reading a story written by someone else as I meet new characters and discover new scenes. There I was, expecting the chapter to play out in a fairly simple way. The doctor is a jerk and wants to subject Ginny to more tests, and won't let her leave, but she, with her parents' help signs out against medical advice.

But then, as the scene progressed, I realized that the doctor has a way to keep her there even if she wants to leave. She has demonstrated mental instability in the past, and her car accident occurred under suspicious circumstances. What if he states that he is concerned that she will kill herself? He could have her involuntarily committed for 72 hours. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it is exactly the sort of thing that doctor would do, especially after how much Ginny's mother had antagonized him.

But then, I was worried. If Ginny is committed, that would substantially change the early plot. I didn't know where the story would go if she was sent to the mental hospital, and I was also concerned that Ginny's resulting freakouts would start to feel repetitive. I wondered if her boyfriend Kevin would be able to help her escape the hospital before she gets sent there, but then how would that impact him? I wasn't terribly worried that I couldn't figure it out, but it would essentially throw the rough outline that I'd done out the window, and it would substantially delay certain scenes that I've been looking forward to, some which actually inspired the whole story.

And then, I met Doctor Singh, the psychiatrist.

Originally, he was simply a sort of extension of Doctor Kelly, and he served little purpose other than to make Ginny upset and commit her. But then, he showed up as a fully developed character, an intelligent, compassionate guy, who can see in Ginny that she wasn't trying to kill herself, even if he doesn't fully understand what is happening. He doesn't commit her at all, and instead becomes an ally. How cool is that?

I know I'm hardly the first writer to observe this. I just like it. ^_^

I swear, sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to be an adult yet.

I mean, by any objective standard, I make a pretty good living for someone who doesn't have any dependents, and yet still, month after month, I find myself just barely scraping by. And when I have to travel, like I am at the moment, I don't get reimbursed for my travel expenses until the end of the month, so my budget is essentially screwed. I don't know yet how I'll pay for the hotel I'm staying in right now. I put it on my debit card when I checked in, but then another check I'd forgotten about cleared, meaning that the hold they put on my card for the hotel was most likely rejected. *sigh* I have no doubt that things will work out somehow, probably by having one of my coworkers put the bill on their card, and then they get reimbursed, but it's just so embarrassing.

Travelling to small towns for work + carpooling with coworkers who work 11 hours every day = AAAARRRGGGHHH!

Had a bit of a movie marathon this past weekend. Saw four! 28 Days Later, Terminator 3, Sinbad, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

But first, a brief interlude about writing. Now that I’ve finally dragged CiaG chapter 2 out of my brain, kicking and screaming no less, maybe I can finally catch up on some of the reviews I owe people. I’m starting to feel pretty good about this one though. I’m not entirely happy with the two chapters I’ve got so far, (what else is new,) but I’m starting to click. Ginny’s mom and dad showed up fully formed, (right decent of them, I thought,) and things are starting to move forward at last. So, I don’t know if any of my regular critters are reading this, but if so, this I swear, I will crit you back! I’ve just been crazy (well, crazier) lately.

Anyway, onto the movie reviews:

28 Days Later
If you’ve not heard of this, it’s director Danny “Trainspotting” Boyle’s take on the zombie flic. This time around, the zombies aren’t actually dead per se, just infected with “Rage,” a virus that spreads through blood and saliva, turning anyone who comes in contact with either substance into a vicious, irrational killing machine inside of 30 seconds. To boot, no more of that slow-but-steady dead-man’s shuffle for these guys. They’re more like world-class sprinters.

I’m not usually very big on horror movies. Nothing against them per se, I just find that I can’t get emotionally involved in them the way I can with most other types of movies. Not sure why that is. Maybe it’s just that the things that frighten me just don’t translate well to film. *shrug* Anyway, 28 Days Later is actually pretty good, so far as horror movies go. If you’re a horror fan, go for it, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. If not, eh, skip it, I’d say. It’s not the sort of movie that transcends the genre and becomes it’s own kind of art, like say, The Exorcist or Alien, or The Terminator, or Halloween. (Did I leave some out? Let me know!) But it is certainly competently made, and achieves the goals it set out to reach. Maybe that’s damning with faint praise, but there you go.

Terminator 3;
In my opinion, the first two Terminator movies are masterpieces of a sort, the first in horror, the second in action/adventure. I enjoy each on many different levels and tend to watch them whenever I catch them on.

Terminator 3 isn’t that good, but it’s pretty good nonetheless. My expectations were lowered by some of the early buzz, but given my enjoyment of the first two, I felt obligated to check out number three, even if James “King of the World” Cameron wasn’t involved. I didn’t get a masterpiece, but I did get some pretty awesome action sequences, some unexpectedly funny (intentionally so) scenes, and a couple of well-executed fake-outs. I see enough movies these days that I can often see what’s coming pretty early on. This one had me fooled twice. A well-made exciting action movie with interesting characters and on the whole, a worthy addition to the larger story, even if it’s not quite a masterpiece.

Sinbad:
I’m an animation fan. Always have been and plan on continuing to be for the foreseeable future. I liked the previous Dreamworks animated outings (Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, (TRtED gets funnier and funnier the better you know the dialogue,) and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron) quite a bit. This one is another excellent addition to a growing library.

It’s not high art. So I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing influences or technique or anything, but the movie is nonetheless enormously entertaining. Sinbad (Brad Pitt) and Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones) have a lot of chemistry together and there are plenty of nifty one-liners and exciting action. The villain, Eris, the goddess of Chaos, is also an example of great character design. The movie is a lot of fun. It’s one of the movies where you find yourself spontaneously making noises like: “Oh!”, “Whew!” And at one point, “Whoops!” Or at least, I found myself making those noises. YMMV ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean:
Far and above, my favorite of the four. But then, for the last couple of weeks, I’ve found myself suppressing giddy giggles at the thought of Johnny Depp as a drunken pirate captain. *gleeful snicker* I wasn’t disappointed either. Yay, Johnny Depp! ^_^

Oh sure, there’s other stuff in this movie too. Some nifty special effects, particularly with the zombie pirates, who look normal until seen under moonlight. Orlando Bloom sure is easy on the eyes, even when not in full elf regalia. And so on and so on.

But I came to this movie for Johnny Depp. He’s fabulous and awesome and funny and... And I’ve got a big grin on my face just thinking about him.

Go see this movie. Enough said. ^_^

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
There are a lot of people who won't like this movie, but really, who cares about them?
The plot makes no sense, the action sequences are ludicrously implausible, and the characterization is shallow and stereotypical. But you know what else? It's a hell of a lot of fun. Once you realize that it's not about a complex story or emotional depth, you can just sit back and enjoy watching a bunch of high-spirited girls ride motorcycles and dance and beat up bad guys. While watching it, I was left thinking: "Gee, I wish I was hot and invulnerable and able to defy the laws of physics." ^_^

Over at Ain't-It-Cool-News, Harry Knowles said, (and I agree,) that when this movie comes out on DVD, you could watch the movie on "Shuffle" and it wouldn't really make any difference. The movie is all about staging interesting/exciting/funny action sequences, so if that's what you want, this movie won't be a waste of your eight bucks.

The Hulk
Eh.
Parts of it were definitely good. It certainly had higher ambitions than most comic-book hero movies, it actually shoots for some genuine emotional depth and meaning, and even better, it partially succeeds. A lot of the acting is pretty good, and the action sequences are fairly exciting too, even if some of the hulk's feats seem a bit implausible. (Note: This is only a problem if the movie makes any pretense towards realism, see above.) I think the ending was a little confusing, but for me, the movie's biggest problem is that it just didn't make me care very much. Some people will feel differently and the more power to them. Me? I'm not sorry I saw it, but I'm not going out of my way to see it again either.

On DVD
Punchdrunk Love
This movie isn't for everybody, but if it's on your wavelength, you will love it. Don't be fooled by Adam Sandler's name on the cover art, this is no goofy comedy. The writer/director is Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) and the movie is much more in line with those than, say, The Waterboy.

If you come to this movie expecting dumb jokes and slapstick humor, you're going to be very disappointed. For that matter, if you come to this movie expecting Sleepless In Seattle you'll be disappointed. No, this is a love story for lonely outcasts.

I don't know if you fall into that category. I suspect that we all do from time to time. But what Mr. Anderson (No Matrix jokes please) has done here is a rethink of Sandler's other roles. Adam Sandler often plays a somewhat awkward, soft-spoken character with the potential for fits of rage. But in his other movies, it is played for laughs. Here, it's played straight.

Barry Eagan (Sandler) is a man with seven sisters, and it's not that they don't love him, but thirty-some years of seven-against-one has turned Barry into a timid, insecure man who occasionally kicks through sliding-glass doors. He hates himself, but he's not sure why. He's terribly unhappy, but he doesn't know what he wants. All he knows is that he is lonely and sometimes he can't stop crying. Then one day, he meets Lena.

If that sounds funny to you, rent the Waterboy. Go ahead, nobody's judging you. I don't have any problem with the waterboy, but I just want it to be absolutely clear that they are very different movies. You'll just think this one is weird. But if Barry tugs at your heartstrings instead, I think that you should give this one a look.

So I check into my hotel last night and pretty much head straight to bed. (Got up REALLY early), and then this morning, I realize that my hotel bathroom has a jacuzzi in it! Nice! I'm a tall gal (6ft) so most bathtubs are too small. This one, however, looks perfect! Plus bubbles! ^_^

I mention it to my coworker though, wondering aloud why the desk clerk didn't mention them when they were telling us what was in the rooms. He said his room has a normal, tiny bathtub.

Oh... *blush* Guess that's why the clerk didn't mention it. Anyway, I'm takin' a jacuzzi bath tonight!