Wed Reading Meme...
Aug. 26th, 2015 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatPrior to the meme, on Face Book, I stated that sometimes I wish I'd become an English Lit Professor (or a Cultural Anthropology Professor - which would have been more interesting not to mention more challenging) as opposed to a legal professional. That had been the plan, but the universe has a tendency to look at your plan, giggle, and say, you really think that's going to happen? Actually, to be honest, the original plan had been to become a political science major, but the undergrad that I went to made that impossible. (You had to enter a sort of lottery to get into popular courses, or put a lot of points on them. And the most popular courses as a freshman were the poli-sci/history courses -- which if you didn't get into as a freshman, you were basically screwed. Because all the other courses in that specific major built upon them. Also, they were only offered at certain points during the year. Doesn't matter -- I'd have ended up going to law school and in the job I'm currently in either way. Most of the people I ran into in law school and my current work place were poli-sci majors.)
Anywho...what prompted this sudden desire (outside of work hell) was the following discussion with my father.
Father: When I was a freshman in college, I decided I wanted to be an English Lit Professor. I had this professor for my American Literature course who on the first day of class showed up ten minutes late. He sat on his desk and lit a chesterfield cigarette. Then he looked at us, and said, 'We're going to talk about Russian Literature. The assignment is to read the Brothers Karamosov.' One of the student's raised their hand, 'but isn't this American Literature?' The professor sucked on his cigarette and puffed out the smoke. 'Want to know what happened today? Did you see the headlines?' The class sits in bewildered silence. 'Sputnik happened. See the Russians think differently than we do. Americans think A-B-C, but Russians think A-D-Z-E-C, and that's why they get things done. The only way we can understand how they think is to read their literature. So you're going to read the Brother's Karamosov and Crime and Punishment, and we're going to discuss them. So we can figure out how they think.'
That's why I want to be an English Lit Prof, it would have been cool. You could do whatever you want.
[Of course this was back in the early 60s, so, back then, it probably was fun. It's changed a lot since then -- now schools are run like corporations and for a profit. And Tuition for places like American University is 63K. (According to a co-worker hunting colleges for his daughter.)]
Me: So , why'd you get a graduate degree in History and become a history major?
Father: Seemed more practical at the time. I needed to make a living.
[He became neither. Instead went the business route. Getting tenure in History was as hard back then as it is now.]
Told this story to my Russian co-worker, who laughed, and quirked an eyebrow. Stating it made no sense. And no, that's not true and so random. He also made an excellent point -- that you can't really say one job is harder than another, or base it on hours worked. Our job is high stress. We have a lot of responsibility - and it's high profile, with a lot of political pressure. Much more stressful not to mention frustrating procuring construction and consulting services to build a train station, redo tracks, rehabilitate a station, or make ADA improvements to a station -- then teach a class on James Joyce, grade papers, and write a paper on it. Having experienced both - I can attest to that. Or rather the stress is different. I remember my father explaining how they evaluated jobs.
The criteria was as follows:
1. Hazardous
Was the job hazardous? Could you get killed? What was the level of danger?
2. Were you responsible for other people's lives? If you made a mistake, would people die?
3. What was your level of responsibility? Were you responsible for other's jobs? For hiring?
For supervising? Did you manage people? Did you manage a function?
4. Line or Staff? Line has more responsibility, and is the one going to get kicked if anything goes wrong, staff has less responsibility and is in a supporting role or function.
5. Educational know-how - what level of education did you need?
6. Level of Experience - how experienced do you need to be in the field?
7. Skills - what is the level and nature of the skills required?
To my knowledge the amount of time you spend doing it -- wasn't one of the considerations. So, boo-hoo, if you work 180 hours a week. So too do a lot of people making 10 bucks an hour. If you are hourly or have billable hours - then the amount of time is factored in. If you are salaried - the amount of time is not always factored in.
This folks is why a person operating a subway train or a locomotive engineer most likely makes more money than someone who teaches a history course. It's the "hazardous" and "responsibility for people's lives" that is the big factor. If there's not a 60% chance you will die doing your job, than you can't claim number #1. It's why Railroad Flagmen makes so much per hour -- when all they appear to do is stand next to the tracks and look for trains. But if they screw up, just once - people are dead. That's factored in.
I also worked in compensation for a while -- it taught me a few big lessons:
1) Don't ask people how much they make or look up how much your friends or co-workers make. It's none of your business. And don't tell them what you make.
2) Ignore titles, they are meaningless.
3) Don't assume you know what someone else's job entails, or how hard it is. Or how it should be compensated.
Train conductors are paid a lot, particularly with overtime. People think -- but all they do is collect tickets. No. They are responsible for the lives of everyone on the train. They have to memorize every line and stop that the trains go to. They have to deal with sick, nasty, and abusive passengers. If there's a problem, they are responsible for getting help quickly. It's a stressful and difficult job. And it pays heavy overtime - because they work weekends, night shifts, holidays, etc.
They also work during bad weather, and are expected to come to work no matter what.
Actors on a television show are also paid based on what they have to do. Sometimes hazard pay is involved. They also have insane hours. Lots of waiting around. High stress. And high rejection level.
**********************************
Wed Reading Meme
1. What I just finished reading?
Magic Shifts by Illona Andrews - the most recent addition in the Kate Daniels urban fantasy mystery/adventure novels.
I rather liked this book. Actually I enjoy all the books. They float my boat, so to speak. Don't expect everyone to like them. There are books various friends of mine adore that ...frankly? Bewilder me. For example? Co-worker and various folks on my flist adored Roger Zelzany's Lord of Light. The appeal was completely lost on me. I could not get past the first 120 pages. The story either put me to sleep or just irritated me, partly because I majored in cultural anthropology and have read a lot of sci-fi stories that were similar, so found the world-building ludicrous, and the plot a bit too reminiscent of a really bad Robert Heinlein or Kurt Vonnegurt novel. But, everybody loved it for some reason - which they explained, and well, no, just, didn't make sense. Same too with Jo Jo Moyes "Me Before You" which a lady in my book club, a social media friend, and Ann Lamonte all loved. I found the book unreadable, far-fetched, silly, crass, and offensive. Filled with low-brow humor made at the expense of the disabled. I think we must have read two separate books? Twilight series (films and books) -- coworkers loved it, I'm bewildered by the appeal.
At my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary - the subject of my novel came up.
Brother: I'm almost through and I'm really enjoying it.
Me (two vodka tonics to the wind): Oh good. You have to tell me what you think. And be completely honest.
Dad: No. NEVER say that. It's subjective. Completely subjective. And has nothing to do with you or how good your book is.
I'm reminded of John Henry O'Toole who wrote the cult classic A Confederacy of Dunces --- and committed suicide due to his inability to get it published. His mother got it published after his death. Now years later, it's being turned into a Broadway Play. Or James Joyce, who yearned for the love of his life to adore his work or at least to "get it" -- she didn't.
Anyhow...back to Magic Shifts. The characters, writing style, and plot generally speaking worked for me. I don't recommend you start with this book, you need to start with Magic Bites. It did drag a bit in the beginning, but took off soon after. And it hit some of my story kinks rather hard - "hurt/comfort" being amongst them. The heroine almost dies, the hero frets - and I'm in love.
Andrews "Kate Daniels Series" has pretty much ruined me in regards to Urban Fantasy. Her use of mythology is by far the most innovative that I've seen. (I find how most people handle vampires and werewolves rather stale. Andrews does some interesting things with it.) Also she focuses on Arabic, Asian, Eastern European, and Persian mythology and folklore, including a lot of items from the Qu'Ran, as opposed to just Judeic-Christian. And...her take on the Bible is delightfully twisted and unique. (I don't tend to like a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal books -- because Judeo-Christian mythology grates on my nerves. It's the whole angels vs. demons bit...it's just silly. That was my difficulty with SPN, too much emphasis on the demons vs. angels war, not enough on urban legends. Although the noir tone almost made up for it -- I stuck with SPN for 7 seasons, it's going on 12 at the moment, or I think it is 12...I lost count. It is also my difficulty with Jim Butcher's Dresden series - I like the fairies, vampires, wizards and noir landscape -- but whenever he decides to do Judeic-Christian mythology, with the fallen angels and the demons and the knights of the holy cross, I roll my eyes and am thrown out of the story. )
In Magic Shifts -- Andrews evolves the characters, their relationships, and the plot a bit more. Kate even comes up with a possible means of containing her insanely powerful father, and we are told why she feels she must contain him and what his end game may be regarding her and Curran. The villains are Djinn and Ghouls from Arabaic Mythology. Although villain isn't quite the right word.
Downside? Not as many female characters in this one. Too much focus on the male characters. Aunt B was sorely missed and I'm not sure George makes up for it. As too was Andrea Nash, who is admittedly pregnant and can't be around as much.
2. What I'm reading now?
I am trying, not all that successfully, to read The Light Between the Oceans by M. L. Steidman for this new book club that I've joined. (The next two books for the club are The Boys in the Boat (non-fiction), and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Both of which were cheap. Cloud Atlas - my brother gave me. Boys in the Boat - was 2.99 on the Kindle.)
It appears to be about a lighthouse keeper and his wife, who find a baby in a row boat and decide to keep it, after losing their own. Then flashes back in time to when he met his wife and is told in his point of view.
I went to sleep reading it on the train the other day. And couldn't focus on it yesterday, after being blindsided at work. So decided to re-read Magic Bites, the first in the Kate Daniels series instead -- it's easy, I skim and skip around. Light Between Oceans, you can't really skim.
*******************
On the writing front, I'm struggling with this new novel. I was all gung-ho a month ago, now I'm stuck. I'm thinking I should just do what I usually do which is push right through it and go back later to fix. But, my mind refuses to focus on it at the moment. Been rather frustrated this summer.
Decided this week to stop pushing at things, and just shrug them off. So feeling rather apathetic as a result.
Anywho...what prompted this sudden desire (outside of work hell) was the following discussion with my father.
Father: When I was a freshman in college, I decided I wanted to be an English Lit Professor. I had this professor for my American Literature course who on the first day of class showed up ten minutes late. He sat on his desk and lit a chesterfield cigarette. Then he looked at us, and said, 'We're going to talk about Russian Literature. The assignment is to read the Brothers Karamosov.' One of the student's raised their hand, 'but isn't this American Literature?' The professor sucked on his cigarette and puffed out the smoke. 'Want to know what happened today? Did you see the headlines?' The class sits in bewildered silence. 'Sputnik happened. See the Russians think differently than we do. Americans think A-B-C, but Russians think A-D-Z-E-C, and that's why they get things done. The only way we can understand how they think is to read their literature. So you're going to read the Brother's Karamosov and Crime and Punishment, and we're going to discuss them. So we can figure out how they think.'
That's why I want to be an English Lit Prof, it would have been cool. You could do whatever you want.
[Of course this was back in the early 60s, so, back then, it probably was fun. It's changed a lot since then -- now schools are run like corporations and for a profit. And Tuition for places like American University is 63K. (According to a co-worker hunting colleges for his daughter.)]
Me: So , why'd you get a graduate degree in History and become a history major?
Father: Seemed more practical at the time. I needed to make a living.
[He became neither. Instead went the business route. Getting tenure in History was as hard back then as it is now.]
Told this story to my Russian co-worker, who laughed, and quirked an eyebrow. Stating it made no sense. And no, that's not true and so random. He also made an excellent point -- that you can't really say one job is harder than another, or base it on hours worked. Our job is high stress. We have a lot of responsibility - and it's high profile, with a lot of political pressure. Much more stressful not to mention frustrating procuring construction and consulting services to build a train station, redo tracks, rehabilitate a station, or make ADA improvements to a station -- then teach a class on James Joyce, grade papers, and write a paper on it. Having experienced both - I can attest to that. Or rather the stress is different. I remember my father explaining how they evaluated jobs.
The criteria was as follows:
1. Hazardous
Was the job hazardous? Could you get killed? What was the level of danger?
2. Were you responsible for other people's lives? If you made a mistake, would people die?
3. What was your level of responsibility? Were you responsible for other's jobs? For hiring?
For supervising? Did you manage people? Did you manage a function?
4. Line or Staff? Line has more responsibility, and is the one going to get kicked if anything goes wrong, staff has less responsibility and is in a supporting role or function.
5. Educational know-how - what level of education did you need?
6. Level of Experience - how experienced do you need to be in the field?
7. Skills - what is the level and nature of the skills required?
To my knowledge the amount of time you spend doing it -- wasn't one of the considerations. So, boo-hoo, if you work 180 hours a week. So too do a lot of people making 10 bucks an hour. If you are hourly or have billable hours - then the amount of time is factored in. If you are salaried - the amount of time is not always factored in.
This folks is why a person operating a subway train or a locomotive engineer most likely makes more money than someone who teaches a history course. It's the "hazardous" and "responsibility for people's lives" that is the big factor. If there's not a 60% chance you will die doing your job, than you can't claim number #1. It's why Railroad Flagmen makes so much per hour -- when all they appear to do is stand next to the tracks and look for trains. But if they screw up, just once - people are dead. That's factored in.
I also worked in compensation for a while -- it taught me a few big lessons:
1) Don't ask people how much they make or look up how much your friends or co-workers make. It's none of your business. And don't tell them what you make.
2) Ignore titles, they are meaningless.
3) Don't assume you know what someone else's job entails, or how hard it is. Or how it should be compensated.
Train conductors are paid a lot, particularly with overtime. People think -- but all they do is collect tickets. No. They are responsible for the lives of everyone on the train. They have to memorize every line and stop that the trains go to. They have to deal with sick, nasty, and abusive passengers. If there's a problem, they are responsible for getting help quickly. It's a stressful and difficult job. And it pays heavy overtime - because they work weekends, night shifts, holidays, etc.
They also work during bad weather, and are expected to come to work no matter what.
Actors on a television show are also paid based on what they have to do. Sometimes hazard pay is involved. They also have insane hours. Lots of waiting around. High stress. And high rejection level.
**********************************
Wed Reading Meme
1. What I just finished reading?
Magic Shifts by Illona Andrews - the most recent addition in the Kate Daniels urban fantasy mystery/adventure novels.
I rather liked this book. Actually I enjoy all the books. They float my boat, so to speak. Don't expect everyone to like them. There are books various friends of mine adore that ...frankly? Bewilder me. For example? Co-worker and various folks on my flist adored Roger Zelzany's Lord of Light. The appeal was completely lost on me. I could not get past the first 120 pages. The story either put me to sleep or just irritated me, partly because I majored in cultural anthropology and have read a lot of sci-fi stories that were similar, so found the world-building ludicrous, and the plot a bit too reminiscent of a really bad Robert Heinlein or Kurt Vonnegurt novel. But, everybody loved it for some reason - which they explained, and well, no, just, didn't make sense. Same too with Jo Jo Moyes "Me Before You" which a lady in my book club, a social media friend, and Ann Lamonte all loved. I found the book unreadable, far-fetched, silly, crass, and offensive. Filled with low-brow humor made at the expense of the disabled. I think we must have read two separate books? Twilight series (films and books) -- coworkers loved it, I'm bewildered by the appeal.
At my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary - the subject of my novel came up.
Brother: I'm almost through and I'm really enjoying it.
Me (two vodka tonics to the wind): Oh good. You have to tell me what you think. And be completely honest.
Dad: No. NEVER say that. It's subjective. Completely subjective. And has nothing to do with you or how good your book is.
I'm reminded of John Henry O'Toole who wrote the cult classic A Confederacy of Dunces --- and committed suicide due to his inability to get it published. His mother got it published after his death. Now years later, it's being turned into a Broadway Play. Or James Joyce, who yearned for the love of his life to adore his work or at least to "get it" -- she didn't.
Anyhow...back to Magic Shifts. The characters, writing style, and plot generally speaking worked for me. I don't recommend you start with this book, you need to start with Magic Bites. It did drag a bit in the beginning, but took off soon after. And it hit some of my story kinks rather hard - "hurt/comfort" being amongst them. The heroine almost dies, the hero frets - and I'm in love.
Andrews "Kate Daniels Series" has pretty much ruined me in regards to Urban Fantasy. Her use of mythology is by far the most innovative that I've seen. (I find how most people handle vampires and werewolves rather stale. Andrews does some interesting things with it.) Also she focuses on Arabic, Asian, Eastern European, and Persian mythology and folklore, including a lot of items from the Qu'Ran, as opposed to just Judeic-Christian. And...her take on the Bible is delightfully twisted and unique. (I don't tend to like a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal books -- because Judeo-Christian mythology grates on my nerves. It's the whole angels vs. demons bit...it's just silly. That was my difficulty with SPN, too much emphasis on the demons vs. angels war, not enough on urban legends. Although the noir tone almost made up for it -- I stuck with SPN for 7 seasons, it's going on 12 at the moment, or I think it is 12...I lost count. It is also my difficulty with Jim Butcher's Dresden series - I like the fairies, vampires, wizards and noir landscape -- but whenever he decides to do Judeic-Christian mythology, with the fallen angels and the demons and the knights of the holy cross, I roll my eyes and am thrown out of the story. )
In Magic Shifts -- Andrews evolves the characters, their relationships, and the plot a bit more. Kate even comes up with a possible means of containing her insanely powerful father, and we are told why she feels she must contain him and what his end game may be regarding her and Curran. The villains are Djinn and Ghouls from Arabaic Mythology. Although villain isn't quite the right word.
Downside? Not as many female characters in this one. Too much focus on the male characters. Aunt B was sorely missed and I'm not sure George makes up for it. As too was Andrea Nash, who is admittedly pregnant and can't be around as much.
2. What I'm reading now?
I am trying, not all that successfully, to read The Light Between the Oceans by M. L. Steidman for this new book club that I've joined. (The next two books for the club are The Boys in the Boat (non-fiction), and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Both of which were cheap. Cloud Atlas - my brother gave me. Boys in the Boat - was 2.99 on the Kindle.)
It appears to be about a lighthouse keeper and his wife, who find a baby in a row boat and decide to keep it, after losing their own. Then flashes back in time to when he met his wife and is told in his point of view.
I went to sleep reading it on the train the other day. And couldn't focus on it yesterday, after being blindsided at work. So decided to re-read Magic Bites, the first in the Kate Daniels series instead -- it's easy, I skim and skip around. Light Between Oceans, you can't really skim.
*******************
On the writing front, I'm struggling with this new novel. I was all gung-ho a month ago, now I'm stuck. I'm thinking I should just do what I usually do which is push right through it and go back later to fix. But, my mind refuses to focus on it at the moment. Been rather frustrated this summer.
Decided this week to stop pushing at things, and just shrug them off. So feeling rather apathetic as a result.
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Date: 2015-08-27 04:22 am (UTC)