Is it bright where you are?
It's strange that I'm only ever really happy when I'm out walking by myself. Sure, I'm happy when I'm reading a good book or listening to good music or when there's goodfic or whatever, but none of that has anything on how I feel when I'm just walking. I don't have a problem with this, mind - I just find it weird.
It is SO refreshing to be out of TDS fandom. Not that I was ever very involved or anything, because I didn't write anything and I didn't comment and I never talked to anyone ever, but I still followed it all. It's been quite a few weeks since I really fell out with it, and while I thought I'd be sad, what I really feel is relief. I mean, now I can watch the show and find it hilarious without all the guilt from the sheer amount of fic I've read hanging over my head. Ditto with the Bugle - somehow it's more enjoyable when I haven't been reading some "epic" where John is a werewolf hunter or whatever.
Actually, this applies to fandom in general. I mean, it's fun getting caught up in that stuff, but really? It just ends up making me ashamed of myself or whatever I'm fangirling or both. Which is why I'm really glad I figured this out before I got completely stalkerish over Stugh. Because I don't need to know that Nathan Thomas Stewart was born July 3, 2004 or that Stephen was at Queen's College for English while Hugh was at Selwyn for archaeology (or was it anthro?) or whatever else. None of that information adds anything to my enjoyment of whatever it is these people do, but it does make me feel somewhat like a creep. What I'm trying to do right now is ease myself out of these habits and learn to like something simply for what it is again.
Of course, I'm not saying that fandom is bad. I love fandom. I'm glad there're still places like CLH and ONTD that don't take anything seriously, and I like that the TDS and Jooster fandoms are all small and lovely and generally wank-free, and I still love how HP and Twilight and Naruto and Death Note and SPN and all those other huge fandoms are completely batshit. Just for me, personally...well, I need to not get so involved. It's completely too late for Jooster, of course, but at least that's fiction, and I think it's deserving of deeper speculation anyway. (Besides, the goodfic there is really good fic, which is so rare I want to get as into it as I can.)
Ok, that probably made no sense. Basically, I = hopefully!reformed stalker, fandom = good but not necessarily for me, canon = wonderful as ever.
And now for stuff! On the book side, I've read/finished The Liar, Watchmen, and A Study in Scarlet since last we met.
The Liar - I kind of wish I hadn't read Moab first, actually, because it makes certain things kind of obvious, even without Stephen putting in (lol, I just wrote "posting") bits of it verbatim. Very cracky, and, um, why always with the unreliable narrator? Enjoyable in a lot of ways, but I wouldn't call it my favorite or anything. Don't get me wrong, though; it was good. It just suffers from the fact that Stephen wrote it, because he also wrote Making History, so I'll inevitably compare them, and the latter wins every time.
Watchmen - Confession time: I cried like a baby at the end of Chapter 8. And I didn't just cry; I fucking sobbed. I didn't think I would at first, but even as I moved on to the next page I was still thinking about it, and the tears just sort of sat there on my lower eyelids, and then I opened my mouth to take in a deep breath, and that breath came back out as a sob and then I couldn't stop myself. Bad things happening to incredibly sweet people makes me sadder than I can properly describe. (See: Jewish couple in Borat, local library playing movies and providing free snacks when I was a kid, etc.) ANYWAY. I think that a lot of the urgency has been lost over time, which is only natural, but it still raised a lot of interesting questions about society and morality and whatnot. I absolutely adored the pirate sub-comic and how it was used. Actually, the entire thing felt like what I imagine reading a movie would be like. Every panel was just perfection. Also, both Dr. Manhattan's and Rorschach's chapters were incredible.
A Study in Scarlet - Unexpected Mormon tangent was unexpected! Made sense after a while, of course, but it was very abrupt. I remember saying to my mom, as I was reading, "This books seems to have taken a strange Mormon bent." Aside from that, vastly more readable than I was expecting from Sherlock Holmes. Not that I really had any expectations per se, of course, but I figured Victorian England + mystery = sort of incomprehensible prose. Hats off to Conan Doyle for making it all fun. Also, young Sherlock (as I assume he was in that first story) is sort of fantastic. It makes me wonder if he changes at all as he gets older, aside from the drugs and the fake death and all that.
Altogether, very satisfying for a couple weeks' worth of on-again-off-again reading. I've got Dorian Gray (because I feel I really should, at some point, and why shouldn't that point be now), Maurice (because...uh...if I'm already on the gays...), and Sign of the Four (because yay for doing large canons in order!) lined up and ready to go. I actually almost started on Wilde the other day, but my eyes were too tired and I was struck with a sudden, intense desire to read Harry Potter again. As it turned out, I did neither and played Okami all afternoon. If I'm gonna do HP, though, I need to do it soon, because I ain't taking those books anywhere.
Hrrrm, anything else? The Freckled Lemonade at Red Robin is fucking amazing. Best strawberries I've ever tasted in my entire life. I also got a chicken burger that had bacon and guacamole on it; I was a little scared, but it ended up being delicious. Yay lunch! I'm not sure whether I should hate to admit that I'm looking forward to Tropic Thunder or not. Olympics in a week. Want another podgram, yet know I shouldn't feel entitled. Running out of AbsPower at an alarming rate. Started watching Ouran yesterday; already 10 episodes in. (I expected to hate it, but you know what? It's funny and cracky and cute and takes nothing seriously. I even find myself cheering for the main het ship even whilst rolling my eyes, which is completely unlike me, but it just goes to show how funny it all is and how much I'm enjoying it.) I mostly did this because I don't mind deleting the anime as I watch, and I want to clear up the space for more Top Gear. Because Top Gear is a truly fantastic show. Like, seriously, I am so happy I took a chance on it, because I love love love it. *coughRichardHammondishotcough*
All righty then, I think I shall be retiring now, though it's only 11:24. Perhaps I'll go ahead and start HP, perhaps not. I shall be as a will o' the wisp, if those are the things that might do one thing or might not. Oooooh, speaking of which, as of today I have read all the short stories that the Jeeves canon has to offer. I am equally triumphant and sad because of this. Two more novels and I'll be done. What a depressing thought. Haha, that reminds me - on the flyleaf of my copy of Carry On someone wrote (paraphrasing here) "When I worry about growing old, I simply remember how much Wodehouse there is left to read." A lovely sentiment if I ever heard one. The receiver of this gift, given on the occasion of his 30th birthday, seems not to have agreed so much, as the book ended up in a dark little corner of Daedalus, but a lovely sentiment all the same.
I'm never really sure how much squeeing I should do when I read those stories. I don't think I've ever come across a canon that is simultaneously so many things. I mean, first off, there's no gay, because this was 1920's English literature by someone who never put "homosexualism" in his stories, for god's sake. On the other hand, there was loads of subtext, because Wodehouse was definitely playing on the whole odd couple thing, and they were completely married in so many ways. And on this improbable third hand, they were totally Doing It, because, as others have remarked, Bertie is enamored of Jeeves no matter what, and if Jeeves isn't doing what he's doing out of love, then he's just a terrifying, power-tripping maniac. It's dashed conflicting, I can tell you, but loads of fun to ponder. (Like the fact that when basking in a fleeting bit of triumph, Bertie says that the only thing keeping the moment from being perfect is Jeeves' absence. I mean, I don't know about you, but that's really telling to me. Not necessarily in a shippy way, either; it's just interesting how Jeeves is always so much more than a servant to Bertie when he gets criticized for letting the menial, as Agatha calls him, get above himself. See what I mean? There's hours of pondering potential right there!)
Eh, while I'm still here (good lord, why can't I ever just stop writing?), I might as well talk about some recent music discoveries. Best of the moment is Duke Special's "Portrait", which I almost gave up. Good thing I didn't, because it's got a great melody and it's fun to sing and it's such a perfect summer song it's ridiculous. It's also slightly jazzy and has one of those great oom-pah oom-pah kind of lines (not like a tuba oom-pah oom-pah, though; I don't know what to call it) that conjures up speakeasies and cigarettes and suspenders like it's nothing. It's just so crazily perfect. I can't listen to it without smiling. Also, completely separate from the 20's and 30's feel, it makes me think of Stephen, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I think it's due to this song that I started wanting the podgram mentioned up there.
Another song I can't get enough of is Smashing Pumpkins' "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning", as heard in the (FUCKING TERRIFIC) Watchmen trailer. It's so dark and moody and sinister, really. Listen to it enough times in a row and it starts to sort of drip off of your consciousness in an oppressive and yet delicious way. It also makes me want to say "ugggghhhhhhhhhh" a lot. Then there's Snow Patrol's "Set the Fire to the Third Bar", which I went ahead and gave in to the other day. I'm kind of annoyed about that, actually, but the second-to-last chorus will not be denied, so what can you do? Also gave in to Arcade Fire's "My Body is a Cage" earlier tonight, because the opening is just that sexy. And then there's Last Alliance's "Shissou", because while Ouran's opening is jpop at its worst, the ending has really nice things going on that I felt like I needed.
Hokay, I really should be going now, as LJ informs me I've been at this for an hour and a half, and at some point you just have to walk away. So this is me, getting out.
...sorry. I should go back through D-dubs soon and get rid of the ones I don't want. I've been meaning to for a while, but just like watching QI and losing weight, I simply haven't gotten around to it yet. Urgh.
OK. THAT'S IT. GOOD NIGHT!
EDIT: Adding cuts, because god damn, long entry is long.
It is SO refreshing to be out of TDS fandom. Not that I was ever very involved or anything, because I didn't write anything and I didn't comment and I never talked to anyone ever, but I still followed it all. It's been quite a few weeks since I really fell out with it, and while I thought I'd be sad, what I really feel is relief. I mean, now I can watch the show and find it hilarious without all the guilt from the sheer amount of fic I've read hanging over my head. Ditto with the Bugle - somehow it's more enjoyable when I haven't been reading some "epic" where John is a werewolf hunter or whatever.
Actually, this applies to fandom in general. I mean, it's fun getting caught up in that stuff, but really? It just ends up making me ashamed of myself or whatever I'm fangirling or both. Which is why I'm really glad I figured this out before I got completely stalkerish over Stugh. Because I don't need to know that Nathan Thomas Stewart was born July 3, 2004 or that Stephen was at Queen's College for English while Hugh was at Selwyn for archaeology (or was it anthro?) or whatever else. None of that information adds anything to my enjoyment of whatever it is these people do, but it does make me feel somewhat like a creep. What I'm trying to do right now is ease myself out of these habits and learn to like something simply for what it is again.
Of course, I'm not saying that fandom is bad. I love fandom. I'm glad there're still places like CLH and ONTD that don't take anything seriously, and I like that the TDS and Jooster fandoms are all small and lovely and generally wank-free, and I still love how HP and Twilight and Naruto and Death Note and SPN and all those other huge fandoms are completely batshit. Just for me, personally...well, I need to not get so involved. It's completely too late for Jooster, of course, but at least that's fiction, and I think it's deserving of deeper speculation anyway. (Besides, the goodfic there is really good fic, which is so rare I want to get as into it as I can.)
Ok, that probably made no sense. Basically, I = hopefully!reformed stalker, fandom = good but not necessarily for me, canon = wonderful as ever.
And now for stuff! On the book side, I've read/finished The Liar, Watchmen, and A Study in Scarlet since last we met.
The Liar - I kind of wish I hadn't read Moab first, actually, because it makes certain things kind of obvious, even without Stephen putting in (lol, I just wrote "posting") bits of it verbatim. Very cracky, and, um, why always with the unreliable narrator? Enjoyable in a lot of ways, but I wouldn't call it my favorite or anything. Don't get me wrong, though; it was good. It just suffers from the fact that Stephen wrote it, because he also wrote Making History, so I'll inevitably compare them, and the latter wins every time.
Watchmen - Confession time: I cried like a baby at the end of Chapter 8. And I didn't just cry; I fucking sobbed. I didn't think I would at first, but even as I moved on to the next page I was still thinking about it, and the tears just sort of sat there on my lower eyelids, and then I opened my mouth to take in a deep breath, and that breath came back out as a sob and then I couldn't stop myself. Bad things happening to incredibly sweet people makes me sadder than I can properly describe. (See: Jewish couple in Borat, local library playing movies and providing free snacks when I was a kid, etc.) ANYWAY. I think that a lot of the urgency has been lost over time, which is only natural, but it still raised a lot of interesting questions about society and morality and whatnot. I absolutely adored the pirate sub-comic and how it was used. Actually, the entire thing felt like what I imagine reading a movie would be like. Every panel was just perfection. Also, both Dr. Manhattan's and Rorschach's chapters were incredible.
A Study in Scarlet - Unexpected Mormon tangent was unexpected! Made sense after a while, of course, but it was very abrupt. I remember saying to my mom, as I was reading, "This books seems to have taken a strange Mormon bent." Aside from that, vastly more readable than I was expecting from Sherlock Holmes. Not that I really had any expectations per se, of course, but I figured Victorian England + mystery = sort of incomprehensible prose. Hats off to Conan Doyle for making it all fun. Also, young Sherlock (as I assume he was in that first story) is sort of fantastic. It makes me wonder if he changes at all as he gets older, aside from the drugs and the fake death and all that.
Altogether, very satisfying for a couple weeks' worth of on-again-off-again reading. I've got Dorian Gray (because I feel I really should, at some point, and why shouldn't that point be now), Maurice (because...uh...if I'm already on the gays...), and Sign of the Four (because yay for doing large canons in order!) lined up and ready to go. I actually almost started on Wilde the other day, but my eyes were too tired and I was struck with a sudden, intense desire to read Harry Potter again. As it turned out, I did neither and played Okami all afternoon. If I'm gonna do HP, though, I need to do it soon, because I ain't taking those books anywhere.
Hrrrm, anything else? The Freckled Lemonade at Red Robin is fucking amazing. Best strawberries I've ever tasted in my entire life. I also got a chicken burger that had bacon and guacamole on it; I was a little scared, but it ended up being delicious. Yay lunch! I'm not sure whether I should hate to admit that I'm looking forward to Tropic Thunder or not. Olympics in a week. Want another podgram, yet know I shouldn't feel entitled. Running out of AbsPower at an alarming rate. Started watching Ouran yesterday; already 10 episodes in. (I expected to hate it, but you know what? It's funny and cracky and cute and takes nothing seriously. I even find myself cheering for the main het ship even whilst rolling my eyes, which is completely unlike me, but it just goes to show how funny it all is and how much I'm enjoying it.) I mostly did this because I don't mind deleting the anime as I watch, and I want to clear up the space for more Top Gear. Because Top Gear is a truly fantastic show. Like, seriously, I am so happy I took a chance on it, because I love love love it. *coughRichardHammondishotcough*
All righty then, I think I shall be retiring now, though it's only 11:24. Perhaps I'll go ahead and start HP, perhaps not. I shall be as a will o' the wisp, if those are the things that might do one thing or might not. Oooooh, speaking of which, as of today I have read all the short stories that the Jeeves canon has to offer. I am equally triumphant and sad because of this. Two more novels and I'll be done. What a depressing thought. Haha, that reminds me - on the flyleaf of my copy of Carry On someone wrote (paraphrasing here) "When I worry about growing old, I simply remember how much Wodehouse there is left to read." A lovely sentiment if I ever heard one. The receiver of this gift, given on the occasion of his 30th birthday, seems not to have agreed so much, as the book ended up in a dark little corner of Daedalus, but a lovely sentiment all the same.
I'm never really sure how much squeeing I should do when I read those stories. I don't think I've ever come across a canon that is simultaneously so many things. I mean, first off, there's no gay, because this was 1920's English literature by someone who never put "homosexualism" in his stories, for god's sake. On the other hand, there was loads of subtext, because Wodehouse was definitely playing on the whole odd couple thing, and they were completely married in so many ways. And on this improbable third hand, they were totally Doing It, because, as others have remarked, Bertie is enamored of Jeeves no matter what, and if Jeeves isn't doing what he's doing out of love, then he's just a terrifying, power-tripping maniac. It's dashed conflicting, I can tell you, but loads of fun to ponder. (Like the fact that when basking in a fleeting bit of triumph, Bertie says that the only thing keeping the moment from being perfect is Jeeves' absence. I mean, I don't know about you, but that's really telling to me. Not necessarily in a shippy way, either; it's just interesting how Jeeves is always so much more than a servant to Bertie when he gets criticized for letting the menial, as Agatha calls him, get above himself. See what I mean? There's hours of pondering potential right there!)
Eh, while I'm still here (good lord, why can't I ever just stop writing?), I might as well talk about some recent music discoveries. Best of the moment is Duke Special's "Portrait", which I almost gave up. Good thing I didn't, because it's got a great melody and it's fun to sing and it's such a perfect summer song it's ridiculous. It's also slightly jazzy and has one of those great oom-pah oom-pah kind of lines (not like a tuba oom-pah oom-pah, though; I don't know what to call it) that conjures up speakeasies and cigarettes and suspenders like it's nothing. It's just so crazily perfect. I can't listen to it without smiling. Also, completely separate from the 20's and 30's feel, it makes me think of Stephen, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I think it's due to this song that I started wanting the podgram mentioned up there.
Another song I can't get enough of is Smashing Pumpkins' "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning", as heard in the (FUCKING TERRIFIC) Watchmen trailer. It's so dark and moody and sinister, really. Listen to it enough times in a row and it starts to sort of drip off of your consciousness in an oppressive and yet delicious way. It also makes me want to say "ugggghhhhhhhhhh" a lot. Then there's Snow Patrol's "Set the Fire to the Third Bar", which I went ahead and gave in to the other day. I'm kind of annoyed about that, actually, but the second-to-last chorus will not be denied, so what can you do? Also gave in to Arcade Fire's "My Body is a Cage" earlier tonight, because the opening is just that sexy. And then there's Last Alliance's "Shissou", because while Ouran's opening is jpop at its worst, the ending has really nice things going on that I felt like I needed.
Hokay, I really should be going now, as LJ informs me I've been at this for an hour and a half, and at some point you just have to walk away. So this is me, getting out.
...sorry. I should go back through D-dubs soon and get rid of the ones I don't want. I've been meaning to for a while, but just like watching QI and losing weight, I simply haven't gotten around to it yet. Urgh.
OK. THAT'S IT. GOOD NIGHT!
EDIT: Adding cuts, because god damn, long entry is long.