Random Musings pt. I: First Blood

[Headhunter]

AntoniaMerEnfant

I love fantasy and sci-fi, but, you will seldom see me reading any of it. Part of this is my self-imposed avoidance of reading other fantasy-sci fi-- since that is what I am working on myself I do not will to unintentionally borrow from other authors. It's more than a legal issue, it's that as someone who loves story telling myself I would HATE for someone to pluck my ideas. Also, the cover art tells me all I need to know. Dwarf with big ax chops up monster, scantily clad busty-lady. I believe the genre is being approached with the same "caliber" as Romance novels. Writers churn out the same old plot rehashed with little inspiration and dump it into the fantasy section of Barnes and Noble.

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the presence of amazing fantasy and sci fi, both in terms of writing and entertainment. But, I think a genre once noted for it's originality is now becoming the puppy mill of the literary world.

Because real life isn't entertaining per se, the contemporary fiction writer must force his or her self to be a masterful wordsmith. The contemp-fic writer has to really engage the reader start to finish. It's got to be fresh. Unfortunately, with fantasy there's become a "uh... throw a dragon in it... yeah.... good" mentality.

I know this is kind of a harsh judgment from yours truly. I am a lousy writer even on my best days.

I think you're right. Each of the three fantasy stories I looked at had the main character being some sort of predestined chosen-one type hero and within the first few paragraphs of two of them the heroes were fighting "generic cannon-fodder monster army number 32". I pretty much stopped right there. I've just seen that sort of thing so many times I had no desire to keep going.  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

Headhunter

AntoniaMerEnfant

I love fantasy and sci-fi, but, you will seldom see me reading any of it. Part of this is my self-imposed avoidance of reading other fantasy-sci fi-- since that is what I am working on myself I do not will to unintentionally borrow from other authors. It's more than a legal issue, it's that as someone who loves story telling myself I would HATE for someone to pluck my ideas. Also, the cover art tells me all I need to know. Dwarf with big ax chops up monster, scantily clad busty-lady. I believe the genre is being approached with the same "caliber" as Romance novels. Writers churn out the same old plot rehashed with little inspiration and dump it into the fantasy section of Barnes and Noble.

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the presence of amazing fantasy and sci fi, both in terms of writing and entertainment. But, I think a genre once noted for it's originality is now becoming the puppy mill of the literary world.

Because real life isn't entertaining per se, the contemporary fiction writer must force his or her self to be a masterful wordsmith. The contemp-fic writer has to really engage the reader start to finish. It's got to be fresh. Unfortunately, with fantasy there's become a "uh... throw a dragon in it... yeah.... good" mentality.

I know this is kind of a harsh judgment from yours truly. I am a lousy writer even on my best days.

I think you're right. Each of the three fantasy stories I looked at had the main character being some sort of predestined chosen-one type hero and within the first few paragraphs of two of them the heroes were fighting "generic cannon-fodder monster army number 32". I pretty much stopped right there. I've just seen that sort of thing so many times I had no desire to keep going.

Yeah... The unfeeling cannon fodder army doesn't help much either. You need at least one token char on each side that a reader can say "I like that guy".

I also like humor. I worry that some fantasy novels might take themselves -too- seriously. I'm sure even in the epic world somebody passes gas on occasion.  

[Harmony Note]

AntoniaMerEnfant

I sort of see both sides of this issue. I have some friends who not only take every quiz and application known to man on their facebook- but also feel the need to "publish" all of them. Facebook does allow you to skip publishing quizzes. I admit I filter out notifications about certain apps from certain friends because it became too excessive. In other words I tend to filter so I know when friends write notes or have status changes- and it's easier to access if I am not wading through 50 quizzes other friends took.

Also, there are one or two people who added me to facebook who I've been reluctant to remove as friends- sort of bad guilt. One of them is a girl I went to HS with and I hate to be mean but all she talks about is her and her son's million problems. Her toddler has every disease, disability, and juvenile non-fatal problem known to man. Just one of those people who is always complaining about something- never really taking charge of their life or celebrating or... anything. Don't get me wrong, I myself complain about issues often, and I am always an open door and ear for close friends who need to vent or ask for help. But there are some people who seem to thrive off of being helpless-- people who get mad at you when you know of a solution to their problem and make a friendly suggestion.

I'm not against using filters. I'm against announcing it. What that did was say "Some of my friends are better than others" or "I have a secret club, and anyone who does THIS is not in it"... that's not kindergarten at ALL *sarcasm*

What I do is I use the hide to filter out quizzes and keep the status updates... and if a friend is only a complainer than they're not a friend. If I have a beef I bring it up to the person. Try to sort it out... or off the list they go. I will not be guilted into relationships, and I'm not trying to guilt him into any relationships either. I was just upset that he's never heard of diplomacy, and he's never considered that the friends he's blocking have valid lives too. I do maybe one or two quizzes here and there... if I really like the results or have something to SAY about the results I sometimes click publish. If that's enough to get me banned from his status updates page then really... I don't need that.

My point to him was supposed to be that of diplomacy. Use the filters... just don't announce it. And I do feel insulted because I don't do a whole lot of quizzes, my status updates are relevant, and for him to say that some people will get through the filters and change lists... how would he know if he's not keeping track? He said they're not set in stone... but how would he know to unfilter someone? I think it's far more likely that it'll be the other way and more and more people will get filtered.  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

Harmony Note

AntoniaMerEnfant

I sort of see both sides of this issue. I have some friends who not only take every quiz and application known to man on their facebook- but also feel the need to "publish" all of them. Facebook does allow you to skip publishing quizzes. I admit I filter out notifications about certain apps from certain friends because it became too excessive. In other words I tend to filter so I know when friends write notes or have status changes- and it's easier to access if I am not wading through 50 quizzes other friends took.

Also, there are one or two people who added me to facebook who I've been reluctant to remove as friends- sort of bad guilt. One of them is a girl I went to HS with and I hate to be mean but all she talks about is her and her son's million problems. Her toddler has every disease, disability, and juvenile non-fatal problem known to man. Just one of those people who is always complaining about something- never really taking charge of their life or celebrating or... anything. Don't get me wrong, I myself complain about issues often, and I am always an open door and ear for close friends who need to vent or ask for help. But there are some people who seem to thrive off of being helpless-- people who get mad at you when you know of a solution to their problem and make a friendly suggestion.

I'm not against using filters. I'm against announcing it. What that did was say "Some of my friends are better than others" or "I have a secret club, and anyone who does THIS is not in it"... that's not kindergarten at ALL *sarcasm*

What I do is I use the hide to filter out quizzes and keep the status updates... and if a friend is only a complainer than they're not a friend. If I have a beef I bring it up to the person. Try to sort it out... or off the list they go. I will not be guilted into relationships, and I'm not trying to guilt him into any relationships either. I was just upset that he's never heard of diplomacy, and he's never considered that the friends he's blocking have valid lives too. I do maybe one or two quizzes here and there... if I really like the results or have something to SAY about the results I sometimes click publish. If that's enough to get me banned from his status updates page then really... I don't need that.

My point to him was supposed to be that of diplomacy. Use the filters... just don't announce it. And I do feel insulted because I don't do a whole lot of quizzes, my status updates are relevant, and for him to say that some people will get through the filters and change lists... how would he know if he's not keeping track? He said they're not set in stone... but how would he know to unfilter someone? I think it's far more likely that it'll be the other way and more and more people will get filtered.

I see where you're coming from. So he filters the quizzes AND the statuses? That does seem a bit unnecessary.  

[RD_the]

Currently I am re-reading "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda" by Romeo Dallaire. It is simultaneously one of the most difficult and...affecting books I have ever read.

I read it for the first time several years ago, and it has had a marked impact on my views on ethics, global politics, humanity, international aid, ethnicity, nationality, multinational agencies and the use of force. It was not the first time I had encountered the Rwandan genocide, but it was the first thing I read that really put the horror in perspective for me. The book inspired a paper I wrote for my intro to International Relations class the next year.

Having researched the causes and effects of the Rwandan genocide quite deeply for years, and having lived with it all this year in school, I wanted to go back and read the book again. I thought it would be easier to get through this time around. I figured that knowing more details would help get me through it. Instead, it feels much more difficult to pursue this time around because I know so much more about what was happening. The book fits even more into the context of what I know, making it much more difficult for me to read.

Ever had a book like that?  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

-plops onto the floor- The only thing worse than 14 hour days is 8 of it driving time, 3+ of which I wound up on the floor of the company van because they believe they can fit 7 in a van designed for 6 and one child. We generally take turns for who sits on the floor.

This is going to be a rough week, I have a double headed on Tuesday, class tonight, and a final on Wednesday. And if I'm still awake Wednesday night I plot to party hardy (aka, go grab food with the boyfriend, maybe rent a movie sweatdrop ). That means I may be neglectful for a few days. Please help keep things rolling. Make posts and respond to posts if you have time.  

[Bakura Amane]

I have a Yoga, written final tonight over terms. whee And after last night going into hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) for a bit and calling Ask-A-Nurse (if any of you are familar with that hotline) around 11:30 pm and eatting chicken and drinking milk before finally going to bed sometime after 1:30 am and on THREE pillows, I'm very worn out and not sure what to make of the rest of my day (muchless week). sweatdrop So don't count on me posting much for a while, but I'll be here...D'oh! This is the general discussion thread. xp I'm soo out of it, but I guess this is fit to post here as well. sweatdrop Sorry people! xd  

[Headhunter]

The further adventures of Lord HH:

-I stayed up until about 3 in the morning yesterday just writing. I started around 11 and knocked out a a video game review that I submitted to a site hoping that they'll published it. After that was put to rest, I worked on an outline and hit a roadblock that I eventually overcame.

-The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands

-As mentioned before, I joined a good site for submitting stories and having them critiqued by other users and I think I've read and critiqued at least one story every day for the past few days. They keep it from being like a lot of other sites where everyone posts stories and no one rates anything by having only a few stories available during a 7 day span and to post your own stories you have to build credits by revieiwng other stuff. If your review is over so many words, you get more credits than you normally would, but all reviews have to be at least 150 words. The only thing I've submitted so far went up for review yesterday and I've already gotten some good tips to help me in the future.

-I took a break from writing to play Team Fortress where I think I may have singled handedly frustrated the enemy team. I played an Engineer and built an automated gun in a corner that was very hard to reach unless the attacker exposed themselves in the open, at which point they would be turned into swiss cheese. I say again: I.Love.This.Game

-The Watchmen movie is awesome. The fanboys who complained about it are utterly hopeless. Utterly.  

[RD_the]

I. Hate. My. Job.

We're stuck in a heatwave, and of course the cheapskate manager won't put ac in the back with the employees, huge pizza ovens, fridges and food. I had to deal with measuring out and spreading half-melted cheese all day. Disgusting. Plus my manager (who hates me) is back from holidays. He was back on my case over every little thing I wasn't doing correctly. (I wasn't doing them wrong exactly, I was just taking a shortcut because we were busy.

I'm trying really hard to remember that this is temporary.

[/rant]  

[Punk Fox TH]

Headhunter

-The Watchmen movie is awesome. The fanboys who complained about it are utterly hopeless. Utterly.

QFT  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

RD_the

I. Hate. My. Job.

We're stuck in a heatwave, and of course the cheapskate manager won't put ac in the back with the employees, huge pizza ovens, fridges and food. I had to deal with measuring out and spreading half-melted cheese all day. Disgusting. Plus my manager (who hates me) is back from holidays. He was back on my case over every little thing I wasn't doing correctly. (I wasn't doing them wrong exactly, I was just taking a shortcut because we were busy.

I'm trying really hard to remember that this is temporary.

[/rant]

Eeeps.

-hires a bunch of good looking people with giant fans to fan the RD while she works-  

[Evil Eirlys]

So, I started reading Vampire Knight today, and it's made me wonder: What is it about vampires that is so da*n sexy? It doesn't seem to matter what I read, it's still a turn on. Manga just seems to make things worse, since it offers visual aids twisted  

[Bakura Amane]

Debating about washing my hair and takin' a shower tonight. Very tired and sore from mowing the lawn, cleaning our turtle's tank, and just plain don't wanna do sh!t (pardon my French! I don't normally swear as you all might of guessed, but right now I don't feel so great).

I surfed Facebook for a good hour to two hours looking up old friends' names and requesting to be friends (wondering if many of them even recognize me any more) and old teachers. Only found one old teacher, but at the same time wasn't trying too hard.

Tomorrow begins my first summer Monday and it is a busy one! (another reason I don't feel like doin' anything tonight.) First of all I have to call Shore Tires (if you don't know who they are look 'em up; I can almost guarantee they are the BEST tire place in the world and have stores in many large cities) to see if we can work in my car to get all four wheels changed. That'll cost around $390 approximately. Next, I have to call about Steven's laptop and see when they can work on it, how much it will cost, and how long they will need it (the RAM will not work properly for some reason or another, but we know it's good b/c it works with another laptop). Then, I have to return the faulty RAM to Best Buy and get our money back (all $60+ of it) and drop off 3 large trash bags full of old clothes, towels, etc. to Catholic Charities (Turnstyles Thrift Shop...gosh I love that store! Seriously!) so someone else can get use out of them. Somewhere in there I will also have to drop the film off from my daddy's camera and see what he left us on the roll of film. I think I've only taken two pictures on that roll since finding it. 3nodding

Whew! Okay after ALL that I think I will actually wash my hair and take a shower 'cause I don't think I'll be getting to it any other time tomorrow. whee

Later everyone! (Oh if you can't wait to talk to me, you can always read my latest entry in my journal and leave a comment. 3nodding ) heart  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

Evil Eirlys

So, I started reading Vampire Knight today, and it's made me wonder: What is it about vampires that is so da*n sexy? It doesn't seem to matter what I read, it's still a turn on. Manga just seems to make things worse, since it offers visual aids twisted

Do you think the biting necks has part of it? I mean the neck is a very sensitive/sensual part for most people.  

[AntoniaMerEnfant]

I haven't really searched for anyone on Facebook in ages- the only people I might want to find that aren't already on my friends list are people whom I do not know the last name of, or am not sure how to spell the last name of.

Also, I feel a little awkward looking up old associates even if I am curious.