Once You Go Black.... (and other weekend antics)
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
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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...
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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.
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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.
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*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... ;-)
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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.
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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. :-)
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