life and gym and things
Met Pinky for lunch today, which was nice, and then I went to work for half an hour because I needed to print a thing and also I had some time to kill.
I met S, the trainer, and he's very nice and very earnest and I think younger than me, which is weird but anyway. We talked a lot about what I want to accomplish and what he sees as the best way for us to spend our time together, and he had me do this functional movement thing to test I guess like strength and stability and see if I'm compensating anywhere for old injuries or pain or anything.
The short version, and Morgan and I had a good laugh about this, is that I'm unstable. Cue "No shit, really?" reaction from everyone reading this, but basically it means that my core stability is weak and I'm not very good with things like balance and such. So we need to work on that. A lot.
I have to email him and let him know when I can see him again, which is only problematic in that I'm working the next seven days straight. Uh. Calendar comprehension fail on my part, but most of these should be six-hour days or thereabouts, so it could be worse. Still, I've had today off, and my next day off is...12/20? Yeah, not the brightest idea I've ever had.
Then I came home and have done lots of writing and am nervous about this next chapter of WC because it's emotionally rough and deals with some dicey subjects and even if I finish it tonight (which is likely) I think I may wait to post it and email it to my sounding board first and ask her for feedback.
Fortunately the next chapter of FF should be half smut, so that makes life easier for me. I think. Maybe.
I've seen this one on FB but am choosing to post it here instead: Name ten books that have stayed with you in some way. They don't have to be "right" or "greats" or anything, but ten books that you remember. I've listed them below, with commentary.
1. The Last Herald Mage, Mercedes Lackey
2. Time and Again, Jack Finney
3. Hunger Games, Susannah Collins
4. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon
7. Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
8. Black Jewels trilogy, Anne Bishop
9. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
10. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
the commentary: (with a first note that it's somehow not surprising that all my books are fantasy in some fashion)
1. These are not the best books I've ever read, but oh, God, did they get me at the right age and the right time. Vanyel was the first gay protagonist I'd ever come across at that point, and I was struggling with my own sexuality, and these books just got me. I bought them as paperbacks, I bought them as a one-volume hardcover that's somewhere in a box, I bought them on the Kindle app for my phone, I will probably buy them again in whatever format comes out next. I haven't actually read them in a while, but I feel comforted in knowing I can. I just...I was so pissed, I wanted him to have a happy ending, and he had to wait so long for it and just argh. I cried at the ending of the third book, I think I still do sometimes if I'm particularly emotionally fraught.
2. This was actually my mother's favorite book, and became one of mine. I thought the idea of it was utterly and completely fascinating--what if you could travel in time by no other means than just convincing yourself you were in another time? That's basically the premise, that you could use hypnosis and change your surroundings and travel in time, and it was so cool. There's a sequel but it's not nearly as good, so I tend to believe that this was the one book. Again, I haven't read it in ages, not sure where my copy went, but it's just brilliant.
3. I put off reading these for a long time, and then I finally gave in and downloaded the first book to my phone, and devoured all three. My favorite is actually Catching Fire, then Hunger Games, then Mockingjay. I have not seen the movies, although I've been told the first two are brilliant and I'll look for them at some point, but me and visual media is always hit or miss. But I read these over and over, and I might read them again sometime soon.
4 & 5. These go together in my mind because they were my twelfth birthday present from a relative who was very much into SF and fantasy, and prior to this I hadn't really read any. I am seriously not kidding when I say these books changed my life. I got more into McCaffrey than I did into Le Guin (I've always had issues with Le Guin, I don't know why) but I devoured everything I could find by Anne McCaffrey, which then led me to Mercedes Lackey, which then led me to Elizabeth Moon, which then...I forget the path after that, but I remember those three very clearly. And had I not read and loved Moon (more on that in a minute) I might not have met Morgan. It's entirely possible I'd have found my way into fantasy and SF at some point were it not for these books, but they are still, to this day, the best present I have ever received from anyone for the reasons mentioned above. It wasn't the sort of thing I realized at the time, you know, I mean how much of a game-changer is one or two books, really? Except it changed everything.
6. I found Elizabeth Moon as mentioned above, and loved this trilogy because it was high fantasy and it was military stuff and it was all these things I knew nothing about, really, but her world was so compelling, so rich, that I loved it. I also have to have this trilogy on the list because Moon was a GOH at 5Con my first year in college, and I was so thrilled with the idea of meeting one of my favorite authors that I signed up to work the con. I had a really positive experience doing it, so I signed up to work again my sophomore year, and that was the year and way in which I met Morgan. (again, life changer. I do feel obligated to note that it is entirely possible I would have met Morgan in other ways even had I not been on con-comm, as we had several layers of connections going on, but I like to thank Moon.)
7. I'm singling out a book here and not the trilogy because while I love the whole trilogy (and the subsequent trilogies, although the first is still my favorite) it's this book in particular that gets me. I don't remember why I first picked this book up, just that I did and I read it so much the cover fell off. I think I have subsequently bought it in hardcover and it's somewhere. (No, we haven't unpacked most of the books yet. Shush.) I mean, this was fantasy and it was lush and erotic and I mean, the protagonist was a masochistic courtesan, how cool was that? I loved the world. Still do. I should find my copies of these books and catch up on the ones I haven't read yet, I think I might be a trilogy behind.
8. And here we have the other darker-edged fantasy. I found this world insanely compelling, and I think my original paperbacks have fallen apart from over-reading. I should look into what versions I actually own at this point and if I need to buy them again. I find Bishop's other works in this world to be weaker, truth be told, and I've been disappointed with some of her non-Jeweled works, but this trilogy is just lovely. It is not for those with triggers because she deals with some seriously disturbing shit, but I really liked it.
9. This is not on here because I read it, but because Morgan read it to me, over a long period of time and many phone conversations when we were having a long-distance relationship. I am not the world's biggest Tolkien fan, whereas he loves him, so this was us attempting to find common ground. I do think the story gains something by being read aloud, but when I've subsequently tried to read it myself I've failed. (We won't talk about my attempts to read LOTR. Suffice it to say, my reaction to the movies was "A picture really was worth a thousand of Tolkien's words.") No, I haven't seen the first movie and no, I don't know if I'm going to see the other two even though they have Cumberbatch and Freeman in them. (Someone on FB described the movies as "a three-movie Hobbit fanfic", which is kind of accurate.)
10. Holy shit is this book disturbing when you finally clue in to what it's about and what's going on with the protagonists. I read this because my iWife told me I had to read it and I think lent me her copy, and I read it without knowing anything about it which I think is how you have to go into it. Because that way it just builds and builds and you know something's wrong but you don't know quite how, and then you realize and go "hoshit". I'm not going to say more about it in case folks on here haven't read it and want to, but I would recommend finding a copy at your local bookstore instead of going on Amazon because spoilers. On the other hand, maybe going in knowing the situation adds something to it, I don't know. It is seriously dystopian and there's no real way out of the situation either, and it's just...wow, this one stayed with me.
Right, back to writing fic now.
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1210314.html. Please comment there. |
comments
I met S, the trainer, and he's very nice and very earnest and I think younger than me, which is weird but anyway. We talked a lot about what I want to accomplish and what he sees as the best way for us to spend our time together, and he had me do this functional movement thing to test I guess like strength and stability and see if I'm compensating anywhere for old injuries or pain or anything.
The short version, and Morgan and I had a good laugh about this, is that I'm unstable. Cue "No shit, really?" reaction from everyone reading this, but basically it means that my core stability is weak and I'm not very good with things like balance and such. So we need to work on that. A lot.
I have to email him and let him know when I can see him again, which is only problematic in that I'm working the next seven days straight. Uh. Calendar comprehension fail on my part, but most of these should be six-hour days or thereabouts, so it could be worse. Still, I've had today off, and my next day off is...12/20? Yeah, not the brightest idea I've ever had.
Then I came home and have done lots of writing and am nervous about this next chapter of WC because it's emotionally rough and deals with some dicey subjects and even if I finish it tonight (which is likely) I think I may wait to post it and email it to my sounding board first and ask her for feedback.
Fortunately the next chapter of FF should be half smut, so that makes life easier for me. I think. Maybe.
I've seen this one on FB but am choosing to post it here instead: Name ten books that have stayed with you in some way. They don't have to be "right" or "greats" or anything, but ten books that you remember. I've listed them below, with commentary.
1. The Last Herald Mage, Mercedes Lackey
2. Time and Again, Jack Finney
3. Hunger Games, Susannah Collins
4. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon
7. Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
8. Black Jewels trilogy, Anne Bishop
9. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
10. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
the commentary: (with a first note that it's somehow not surprising that all my books are fantasy in some fashion)
1. These are not the best books I've ever read, but oh, God, did they get me at the right age and the right time. Vanyel was the first gay protagonist I'd ever come across at that point, and I was struggling with my own sexuality, and these books just got me. I bought them as paperbacks, I bought them as a one-volume hardcover that's somewhere in a box, I bought them on the Kindle app for my phone, I will probably buy them again in whatever format comes out next. I haven't actually read them in a while, but I feel comforted in knowing I can. I just...I was so pissed, I wanted him to have a happy ending, and he had to wait so long for it and just argh. I cried at the ending of the third book, I think I still do sometimes if I'm particularly emotionally fraught.
2. This was actually my mother's favorite book, and became one of mine. I thought the idea of it was utterly and completely fascinating--what if you could travel in time by no other means than just convincing yourself you were in another time? That's basically the premise, that you could use hypnosis and change your surroundings and travel in time, and it was so cool. There's a sequel but it's not nearly as good, so I tend to believe that this was the one book. Again, I haven't read it in ages, not sure where my copy went, but it's just brilliant.
3. I put off reading these for a long time, and then I finally gave in and downloaded the first book to my phone, and devoured all three. My favorite is actually Catching Fire, then Hunger Games, then Mockingjay. I have not seen the movies, although I've been told the first two are brilliant and I'll look for them at some point, but me and visual media is always hit or miss. But I read these over and over, and I might read them again sometime soon.
4 & 5. These go together in my mind because they were my twelfth birthday present from a relative who was very much into SF and fantasy, and prior to this I hadn't really read any. I am seriously not kidding when I say these books changed my life. I got more into McCaffrey than I did into Le Guin (I've always had issues with Le Guin, I don't know why) but I devoured everything I could find by Anne McCaffrey, which then led me to Mercedes Lackey, which then led me to Elizabeth Moon, which then...I forget the path after that, but I remember those three very clearly. And had I not read and loved Moon (more on that in a minute) I might not have met Morgan. It's entirely possible I'd have found my way into fantasy and SF at some point were it not for these books, but they are still, to this day, the best present I have ever received from anyone for the reasons mentioned above. It wasn't the sort of thing I realized at the time, you know, I mean how much of a game-changer is one or two books, really? Except it changed everything.
6. I found Elizabeth Moon as mentioned above, and loved this trilogy because it was high fantasy and it was military stuff and it was all these things I knew nothing about, really, but her world was so compelling, so rich, that I loved it. I also have to have this trilogy on the list because Moon was a GOH at 5Con my first year in college, and I was so thrilled with the idea of meeting one of my favorite authors that I signed up to work the con. I had a really positive experience doing it, so I signed up to work again my sophomore year, and that was the year and way in which I met Morgan. (again, life changer. I do feel obligated to note that it is entirely possible I would have met Morgan in other ways even had I not been on con-comm, as we had several layers of connections going on, but I like to thank Moon.)
7. I'm singling out a book here and not the trilogy because while I love the whole trilogy (and the subsequent trilogies, although the first is still my favorite) it's this book in particular that gets me. I don't remember why I first picked this book up, just that I did and I read it so much the cover fell off. I think I have subsequently bought it in hardcover and it's somewhere. (No, we haven't unpacked most of the books yet. Shush.) I mean, this was fantasy and it was lush and erotic and I mean, the protagonist was a masochistic courtesan, how cool was that? I loved the world. Still do. I should find my copies of these books and catch up on the ones I haven't read yet, I think I might be a trilogy behind.
8. And here we have the other darker-edged fantasy. I found this world insanely compelling, and I think my original paperbacks have fallen apart from over-reading. I should look into what versions I actually own at this point and if I need to buy them again. I find Bishop's other works in this world to be weaker, truth be told, and I've been disappointed with some of her non-Jeweled works, but this trilogy is just lovely. It is not for those with triggers because she deals with some seriously disturbing shit, but I really liked it.
9. This is not on here because I read it, but because Morgan read it to me, over a long period of time and many phone conversations when we were having a long-distance relationship. I am not the world's biggest Tolkien fan, whereas he loves him, so this was us attempting to find common ground. I do think the story gains something by being read aloud, but when I've subsequently tried to read it myself I've failed. (We won't talk about my attempts to read LOTR. Suffice it to say, my reaction to the movies was "A picture really was worth a thousand of Tolkien's words.") No, I haven't seen the first movie and no, I don't know if I'm going to see the other two even though they have Cumberbatch and Freeman in them. (Someone on FB described the movies as "a three-movie Hobbit fanfic", which is kind of accurate.)
10. Holy shit is this book disturbing when you finally clue in to what it's about and what's going on with the protagonists. I read this because my iWife told me I had to read it and I think lent me her copy, and I read it without knowing anything about it which I think is how you have to go into it. Because that way it just builds and builds and you know something's wrong but you don't know quite how, and then you realize and go "hoshit". I'm not going to say more about it in case folks on here haven't read it and want to, but I would recommend finding a copy at your local bookstore instead of going on Amazon because spoilers. On the other hand, maybe going in knowing the situation adds something to it, I don't know. It is seriously dystopian and there's no real way out of the situation either, and it's just...wow, this one stayed with me.
Right, back to writing fic now.
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1210314.html. Please comment there. |
comments