words are all I have
Two observations from billboards this morning: (1) context is everything, and (2) I am a sad geek. The headline "OS SAYS BOKS MUST IMPROVE" made me think vaguely, "but rugby isn't an operating system, and besides, that makes no sense." Which it doesn't, unless you know about the existence of Os du Randt, who is apparently the Boks's "scrum consultant." As far as I'm concerned, "scrum consultant" sounds like a euphemism for something incredibly dodgy, possibly along the lines of "fluffer". Also, there might actually be an argument for rugby as an operating system for lots of men on a field.
I spent two hours in one of those horribly postmodern committee meetings this morning, comprising a committee randomly constituted for THIS PERFORMANCE ONLY!, for the purpose of ascertaining how {issue} about {ongoing project} fits into {committee hierarchy} and {relevant managerial bigwig} for purposes of reporting to {high-stakes university committee}. Along the way I voiced a vague shadow of my problem with another, related, giant committee I sit on regularly, which is much addicted to terminology such as "stakeholders" and "way forward" and, as a result of an indecent plethora of stakeholders, tends to lose any holistic sense of a way forward in a morass of conflicting demands. I was extremely weirded out when the Temp!Committee immediately agreed, constituted a working group to investigate said committee and sort out its bloated and multitudinous tendency, and co-opted me onto said working group. I am not a political animal and, quite apart from hating them, generally consider myself very bad at committees of any description, but it is slowly dawning upon me that hideous power may well be mine.
In other news, am addicted to Echo Bazaar, in which I am an Observant and Intriguing Lady with an Araby Fighting Weasel, a tendency to hang out with Rubbery Men, and a growing interest in cheesemongers. I have recently loitered suspiciously with herne_kzn, who made my morning by greeting my efforts with the unsolicited encomium "A+. Would loiter suspiciously with again." I love this game, it's beautifully constructed and suitably wayward in its atmospherics, and attracts like-minded eccentrics with whom to play. Also, its designers are way more intelligent and articulate than they have any right to be, and their game-design blog is a serious pleasure to read. They talk about narrative theory! Swoon!
Speaking of which, must return to the bosom of Gothic plot structure. I cannot find anyone who talks analytically about the narrative structure of the classic vampire plot. I'm going to have to invent it all from first principles. Well, damn.
I spent two hours in one of those horribly postmodern committee meetings this morning, comprising a committee randomly constituted for THIS PERFORMANCE ONLY!, for the purpose of ascertaining how {issue} about {ongoing project} fits into {committee hierarchy} and {relevant managerial bigwig} for purposes of reporting to {high-stakes university committee}. Along the way I voiced a vague shadow of my problem with another, related, giant committee I sit on regularly, which is much addicted to terminology such as "stakeholders" and "way forward" and, as a result of an indecent plethora of stakeholders, tends to lose any holistic sense of a way forward in a morass of conflicting demands. I was extremely weirded out when the Temp!Committee immediately agreed, constituted a working group to investigate said committee and sort out its bloated and multitudinous tendency, and co-opted me onto said working group. I am not a political animal and, quite apart from hating them, generally consider myself very bad at committees of any description, but it is slowly dawning upon me that hideous power may well be mine.
In other news, am addicted to Echo Bazaar, in which I am an Observant and Intriguing Lady with an Araby Fighting Weasel, a tendency to hang out with Rubbery Men, and a growing interest in cheesemongers. I have recently loitered suspiciously with herne_kzn, who made my morning by greeting my efforts with the unsolicited encomium "A+. Would loiter suspiciously with again." I love this game, it's beautifully constructed and suitably wayward in its atmospherics, and attracts like-minded eccentrics with whom to play. Also, its designers are way more intelligent and articulate than they have any right to be, and their game-design blog is a serious pleasure to read. They talk about narrative theory! Swoon!
Speaking of which, must return to the bosom of Gothic plot structure. I cannot find anyone who talks analytically about the narrative structure of the classic vampire plot. I'm going to have to invent it all from first principles. Well, damn.