Apologies
I’m sorry, I didn’t post in the discussion yesterday. I thought about it, but then I got absorbed in cleaning behind the woodstove. Then I went online determined to post and I ended up wasting the battery on facebook. I guess this isn’t the week for me, writing-wise, I haven’t written much at all this week; my mind’s been full up of other things. How often does that happen to you? Instead of writing, I’ve been setting up for winter. We’re going to cover two of the windows, to conserve heat this winter, and curtain the others, so they can allow light, but can also be insulated. I’ve patched a bad spot in the road, prepared a space in the yurt for a bathtub (one of those old claw-foot beauties!) so that we can have long, warm soaks after a cold day outside, I’ve become comfortable with my sewing machine (at last!), enough to make a cover for the feather bed, and I’ve been taking my turn at sifting the soil in the front garden - a hard job, especially with Yarrow eager to help.
So Jenna, enjoy another Monday off while I try to re-balance my daily life. Next week I’ll probably have burned myself out on autumn work and be writing like crazy.
But here's a link to an interesting little post reviewing a book on fan-culture, because, sometime soon, I think it'd be fun to discuss fandom in the book-world.
I thought about it, but then I got absorbed in cleaning behind the woodstove. Then I went online determined to post and I ended up wasting the battery on facebook. I guess this isn’t the week for me, writing-wise, I haven’t written much at all this week; my mind’s been full up of other things. How often does that happen to you?
ReplyDeleteHaha. I know EXACTLY how you feel. I get my blog posted regularly only by treating it as Work. Wish I were so thoroughly consistent about novel-writing, which becomes harder when your mind is elsewhere, or when a million other tasks await.
So, the fandom discussion could be interesting, as was the linked post, though dismissiveness regarding Meyer's novels seems a little disingenuous when accompanied by haphazard punctuation and the non-lexical vocable 'supposably'. :P (Cannot hear that pseudoword without thinking of Joey Tribbiani and laughing. As bad as Friends was in some respects, it was almost unfailingly hilarious.) She made some excellent points about commentary on fan culture, however, and I'd be thoroughly interested in reading the book she wished Fanpire had been.
I wish I were comfortable with a sewing machine. I'm jealous. :)
Oh NO! If I treated it as work I'd never post at all! I'd be the "oops..called in 'sick' again" girl, and you'd hate me..:)
ReplyDeleteI've been trying desperately to write something for the SSIG fairy tale prompt, and only have th roughest of drafts..because my mind is very much on other things, so I'm going to try to get that into a less embarressing state before the end of the day..that's about it for real writing in my life this week :(
It's funny, I didn't SEE the punctuation flaws or "Supposably" until you pointed it out! Though I was a little annoyed that - while complaining that the Fanpire book brought up issues only to drop them, she did the exact same.. But the fandom discussion sounds fascinating, doesn't it, I realized, just recently -when sharing random little quotes from the Silmarillion that I athoctually fall into the Tolkien Fan-world ;p (scary thought)/. so I can be slightly sympathetic ;)
My Sewing machine is so scary! It demands rhythm!!
not that my spelling isn't embarrassing..can I still be all dismissive of Meyer's, even though she can probably spell me into the ground?? :)
ReplyDeleteYou can be dismissive of her spelling all you want, as I have no idea whether or not she can spell. Her editor did a good job of making sure she spelled things correctly. Making sure she stuck to plain past tense narrative, not so much. :P
ReplyDeleteEhh, spelling isn't a real issue. It's just another 19th-century reform movement gone haywire (and relentlessly propagandizing its way through the generations, which is why I twitch nonetheless whenever Masha puts an apostrophe where it isn't wanted). And sticking to one tense for your narrative = possibly overrated. Meyer creates a sense of immediacy with her writing that works really well with a lot of readers.
ReplyDeleteThe comments on Jane Eyre are interesting. I really don't like Ed Cullen as a character, at least as he's presented, but I don't think disliking him (or Bells) is why I don't like Twilight. After all, I love Wuthering Heights, a book entirely about horrible people in horrible circumstances behaving horribly to one another. And I love Jane Eyre forever and always. But Heathcliff's cruelty and Rochester's selfishness are always visible in the narration, whereas Meyer seems to be constantly trying to hide the fact that Eddie C. is a gigantic immortal douchenozzle. That makes a big difference for me in how I respond to the book. Your Mileage May Vary.
Though, ok, the fact that C. Bronte is a master of the multi-clause sentence and S. Meyer is. . . not. . . probably also colors my response a little. M, I guess we are snobs together.
..yeah, I meant her writing in general, I'm almost certain she spells better than I do, everyone does. :) But since I can't manage to make myself clear even in blog comments..I should probably keep my mouth shut ;)
ReplyDeleteI think, Laura, that you have a good point. I don't like Edward or Bella, but I can happily read books full of awful people and enjoy them.. The snob-factor is a big part of it for me, but I feel kind of like Meyer is a pushy friend, trying to force me into dating her abusive brother-in-law, so 'we can all have fun together'.
But I wasn't thinking of discussing Twilight-Fandom, or Harry Potter-Fandom, or even people who paint Bilbo's bath-song on their new claw-foot tubs(!!) Though it'd be interesting to bring the personal aspects into it. I really liked the idea of finding common ground in the relationship of the Fan to the Book.
http://fandomstudies.wikispaces.com/What+place+does+fandom+have+in+Academia%3F
ReplyDeleteCheck this one out. I disagreed with some of it, but it was a little more interesting than the other.
"Your Mileage May Vary" Mileage always does in these things. I was never a big Edward fan, though I liked him better than the ever-annoying Jacob. I liked the books in significant part because I liked Bella. But I've never yet figured out how to explain that to the world. :P
ReplyDeleteMasha, I liked that last article. Though it seems to me that education should look both to canon and to current works to be properly rounded. And as a novelist, I would feel guilty if I did anything less. I already feel guilty for not having gotten to certain classics yet. I do admittedly feel less guilty for not having read Dan Brown or Philip Pullman or E.L. James, however. ;)
Jacob. yeah..eh.
ReplyDeleteI can be comforted in you liking Bella, I don't but she isn't either of the boys, and that is a blessing.
I agree the second article was wrong on the whole canon vs. modern thing, but that her attitude seemed less "look at all the silly girls" and more open to understanding the response of fans..I have a bad tendency to abandon current works if say, they have a bad author photo or the cover art is way too cheesey, and that is a major flaw. Dan Brown and Philip Pullman I read for fun, kind of like Meyer and Rowling, except with malice in my heart, and E.L. James doesn't deserve notice. :( (Reading author's with malicious intentions is another flaw of mine, isn't it. I'm really not nice ;P )
So maybe Fandom this week? If we haven't killed it already! :)
Hey, that article is interesting! (I got it to work this time). I both completely agree about the importance of not dismissing youth culture / things that are popular, and seriously hate when people do the "how could this possibly be relevant!" thing on behalf of a huge number of people they don't know.
ReplyDeleteI mean, it's totally ok to feel that Emily Dickinson doesn't speak to you, and not liking E.D. doesn't = stupid or uneducated or illiterate. It doesn't even = "will never like E.D." But her weird morbid cryptically-sexy poems do speak to some kids, and it's not being an awesome advocate for youth to pretend that they don't exist just because they're in the minority.
(also, attraction to / curiosity about the past is a youth culture. It's not as big in any generation as Harry Potter was, but is anything?)
I think you can be creative and inclusive with regard to youth & pop culture without making assumptions about anyone's ability to appreciate that which is old & awesome.
Pet peeve.
Otherwise, though, sure. Though over in the parallel universe where the nineties are alive, fourteen-year-old me's blood is boiling at the thought of being made to read Fear Street Saga for Accelerated English. Fourteen-year-old me doesn't have Internet access and can therefore channel her rage into a 10-page strongly-worded letter about "academic standards" which she will staple to the morning reading comprehension quiz instead of answering the questions.