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itsallovernowYeah, to be back at work, with my happy computer and it's equally happy OSX and DSL, and just my normal life again, hectic and frenetic as that is, but still mine, all mine.
Saw a great show last night, the Superstars of Bellydance, which cracks me up on a variety of levels, largely because of how it's billed, but still it was a sharp, polished show with fantastic dancers, many of whom we know and a real treat to see Belllydance treated as a serious artfrom. And there was a dancer who could put her hands and elbows flat together behind her back, with her fingers point upwards, sort of like a prayer pose but behind her back. That I'm not sure is strictly human:) She could also fold herself in half, backwards, inch by inch, so clearly had no spinal chord:) It's so nice to see those things - not the inhumanness - but the skill and polish, the timing and the perfectionism.
Came home and watched Alias, which I did enjoy, despite my sleepiness. Jack is so the man. And there was no crying. Yeah no crying. I now remember why I've been dilligently watching, slogging through episodes bored or annoyed me, and I'm very glad that I taped last night's. There were problems, but the pacing and the dialogue and the feints and twists were all loads of fun, and afterall, that's why I watch it.
Also read Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness while I was at court last week. It was so lovingly drawm, and engrossing, the rich textures of the landscape and the lifestyles and the characters. I'm going to have to go find the next book. Now I'm reading The Lost Steersman by Rosemary Kirstein (because I'm blatantly stealing titles that have been mentioned on LJ:) which I'm also enjoying, and is sort of in that same vein.
Into the Wilderness reminded me of a series of books by Margaret Lawerence set during post-Revolutionary Massachussetts. They have a very different sensibility than Into the Wilderness, but a similar draw and pull, although the first two or three are billed as mysteries, and the final book is more of a novel. I'm wondering if anyone else has read these.
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suelac has a new Crossover snippet that's brief but delicious, and rubberneck's latest installment of Little Acrons made me cry, once again. It's not the levels of sadness, I think, it's the skill and insight, the evolution and devolution of character, the story and the artist combined maybe. That always kills me, when you see or hear a piece of art that makes you want to weep, not only for the work itself, but for the joy that swings in when you understand how remarkable a thing the artist has done, and your simply so pleased for them, to have achieved the level of skill or understanding, or just been blindly lucky enough to have everything fall into the right place.
Saw a great show last night, the Superstars of Bellydance, which cracks me up on a variety of levels, largely because of how it's billed, but still it was a sharp, polished show with fantastic dancers, many of whom we know and a real treat to see Belllydance treated as a serious artfrom. And there was a dancer who could put her hands and elbows flat together behind her back, with her fingers point upwards, sort of like a prayer pose but behind her back. That I'm not sure is strictly human:) She could also fold herself in half, backwards, inch by inch, so clearly had no spinal chord:) It's so nice to see those things - not the inhumanness - but the skill and polish, the timing and the perfectionism.
Came home and watched Alias, which I did enjoy, despite my sleepiness. Jack is so the man. And there was no crying. Yeah no crying. I now remember why I've been dilligently watching, slogging through episodes bored or annoyed me, and I'm very glad that I taped last night's. There were problems, but the pacing and the dialogue and the feints and twists were all loads of fun, and afterall, that's why I watch it.
Also read Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness while I was at court last week. It was so lovingly drawm, and engrossing, the rich textures of the landscape and the lifestyles and the characters. I'm going to have to go find the next book. Now I'm reading The Lost Steersman by Rosemary Kirstein (because I'm blatantly stealing titles that have been mentioned on LJ:) which I'm also enjoying, and is sort of in that same vein.
Into the Wilderness reminded me of a series of books by Margaret Lawerence set during post-Revolutionary Massachussetts. They have a very different sensibility than Into the Wilderness, but a similar draw and pull, although the first two or three are billed as mysteries, and the final book is more of a novel. I'm wondering if anyone else has read these.
suelac has a new Crossover snippet that's brief but delicious, and rubberneck's latest installment of Little Acrons made me cry, once again. It's not the levels of sadness, I think, it's the skill and insight, the evolution and devolution of character, the story and the artist combined maybe. That always kills me, when you see or hear a piece of art that makes you want to weep, not only for the work itself, but for the joy that swings in when you understand how remarkable a thing the artist has done, and your simply so pleased for them, to have achieved the level of skill or understanding, or just been blindly lucky enough to have everything fall into the right place.
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wheee! a convert!
Date: 2004-04-19 01:20 pm (UTC)I'll read these other books you mentioned--they sound great, esp. as I now live in Massachusetts.
Re: wheee! a convert!
Date: 2004-04-19 02:06 pm (UTC)Do I need to read the second book to know what's happening? Or can I go on to the third one. I'll probably read the second one anyway, I was very entranced by the world she created, and I'm not usually much on wildernessy stories. But I loved this one.
The Margaret Lawerence books are very good. They have a different feel, less lush, a little edgier, with a different feel for the history, but they have the same beautifully recreated worlds.
Re: wheee! a convert!
Date: 2004-04-19 02:36 pm (UTC)Re: wheee! a convert!
Date: 2004-04-19 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-19 05:47 pm (UTC)Oh, I'm glad too that you liked it so much. It's one of my all-time favorite books.
I agree, you really should read the second one. And although I love the 2nd and 3rd books I don't think any of them will ever best the first. I'm looking forward to the next one, just to see where she goes with it.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-20 05:53 am (UTC)I think maybe it should come with a Thea Warning ; )
...the evolution and devolution of character
Really, that's what it's turned into, a vehicle for me to strip these two characters down to their component parts and reassemble them in a way that could actually work--instead of being creepy and painful. Because deep down I'm a horrifyingly romantic shipper, but there's all these layers of practicality and morbid fascination on top of the shippiness. We make our ship the old fashioned way--we eaarrrrrn it.
...and your simply so pleased for them, to have achieved the level of skill or understanding, or just been blindly lucky enough to have everything fall into the right place.
This is a weird-ass time for me as a writer, because I know I've made a sizeable leap in what I can handle skill-wise. There's almost a disconnect between myself and what ends up on paper. Things I've written not even two years ago seem clumsy, and stories from back then skate around the interesting stuff that I didn't think I could handle.
But thing is, I know that down the road I'll look back at "Acorns" and see it similarly--not because I expect to be some god of the written word in the future, but because I've just carved out a whole new skillset that I'm still learning how to use.
I imagine it's a lot like walking across fire, keeping your eyes up and your feet moving and only when you hit dirt again can you really assess what the hell you just did.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-20 09:57 am (UTC)But thing is, I know that down the road I'll look back at "Acorns" and see it similarly--not because I expect to be some god of the written word in the future, but because I've just carved out a whole new skillset that I'm still learning how to use.
Yeah, it's a remarkable feeling isn't it, watching your skills unfold and develop, the turnings of nuance and pace and description, and that weird sense that if you keep working, you'll reach another level of skill. And you have no idea how much it pleases me, to be so thrilled at what you already can do, and think. Damn, she's just gonna get better:)
We make our ship the old fashioned way--we eaarrrrrn it.
And this so clearly needs to be iconed!!! Hint. Hint Hint:)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-26 06:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-26 10:54 am (UTC)